Many won’t openly admit it, but when I read the headline to this article on The Creativity Post recently, I laughed out loud. Afterwards, I thought about it and cringed with the pain of a thousand paper cuts:

“Why Meetings Make Us More Creative”

Something ridiculous about that, right? So many articles telling us to organize our days, not one of them proposes the notion of running headlong into meetings with the idea of being stimulated creatively in them. This article does a great job of debunking those myths, provided you approach with a good frame of mind.

Much of the work I am involved with can tend to herd us all into silos of isolation. Humans were not made for that kind of repeated behavior. We function better together (as I have written many times). Meetings are just the thing to shake us from the silo of our minds and collaborate into solution-based conversation.

It’s not easy. You have to spend a few minutes preparing for each meeting if this is going to happen. It’s not possible to jump up from your desk with your laptop in hand, a minute past the start time. This kind of approach will make you re-open your machine and zone out.

There are some times of the day encouraged to avoid because of the effect lunch or beginning (or end) of day doldrums can have. Unfortunately we don’t live in that perfect of a world every day. This will stimulate fresher minds. We must also help each other have fun during these sessions, even if an icebreaker isn’t involved. 

Push each other towards ideas or paths not yet discovered yet. Challenge traditional mind sets. Use some exercise. Sounds like buzz-phrases from a seminar, but it works. If we do our best to make meetings roadblock-killers instead of makers, you might find yourself looking forward to the next one.