Need Vision for Meetings

I call the HR from a corporate. The gatekeepers (secretaries/receptionists) as they are called tell me that they are in meetings.

Meetings, meetings, and meetings, team meetings, team lunches, and team games.

I was a part of such meetings too. Eventually, I got frustrated. I never knew what role I was playing. 

Status of Meetings:

General agenda, arguments, blame game, discussion (not fruitful), not calculating ROI of meeting time, tea, coffee, and snacks are part of the meetings. 

Story: Khomadussa Sutta 

(Ref: Saṃyuttanikāya, Brāhmaṇasaṃyuttaṃ, Upāsakavaggo (2), Khomadussasuttaṃ (12))

Once, there was a council meeting in a particular society of homeowners of Khoma. People gathered to discuss various issues/concerns. Buddha visited the place. 

People accused him of being mannerless and not having etiquettes, “Don’t you know the rules? (“Ke ca muṇḍakā samaṇakā, ke ca sabhādhammaṃ jānissantī”ti?)

He was reminded that he was uninvited (They don’t respect the Buddha as Buddha, the enlightened one. Of course, the Buddha knows what he does, why he does it, and when he does it.)

Then, the Buddha explained by means of a poem (gathā)

(I quote here in Pāli, the language of the enlightened one)

“Nesā sabhā yattha na santi santo,

Santo na te ye na vadanti dhammaṃ;

Rāgañca dosañca pahāya mohaṃ,

Dhammaṃ vadantā ca bhavanti santo”ti.

"(There is no council where the good are not.

They are not good who speak not Dhamma (means truth).

But having abandoned attachment, hate, and delusion,

speaking Dhamma, they become good.)"

The Brāhmaṇs of Khoma are overjoyed and thank the Buddha for having made the agenda of the meeting clear. 

The Buddha reminds them that a meeting’s purpose is only solved if people are open to listening to the true self and true nature as it is. No manipulation, no pre-conceived notions, no egos. Meetings where rāga (attachment/lust), dosa (ill-will), and moha (delusion) are abandoned and people stay in harmony.

What Needs to be Done?

A clear vision for self, the department, and the company. You need to have a clear, quantified, and measurable purpose that justifies your time, energy, effort, and money. Having a purpose for the larger good and not a self-agenda. A vision that forms harmony and gives joy.

Question?

 What is the purpose of your meeting? What purpose you have when you meet?  Do you calculate the ROI of such meetings?

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Gratitude 

Dr. Sonali Wagle