meetings

The mirror we are ourselves

On 18 May 2013, in meetings, participation, transformational, by Ruben van der Laan
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‘Well! If you can’t handle it, I’ll do it!’ She almost screamed the sentence then stood up and left the meeting room. She went straight to her working space, fell in her chair and gazed through the window. She felt exasperated. Her team was not able to pull it off.   The past 2 years, [...]

What leadership for groups in confusion?

On 14 March 2013, in meetings, participation, transformational, by Ruben van der Laan
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Sometimes I’m just a participant of a meeting. I cherish these meetings. I’m just one of the pack, do not need to lead the meeting and can decide my own role according to my whims. This time I was in an observing and learning mood. A crowd of approximately 40 participants had gathered around the [...]

‘Many organisations have no mechanism to pull out ideas’ – interview with John P. Kotter

On 31 January 2013, in change, ideas, meetings, by Ruben van der Laan
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Dr. John P. Kotter is a former professor at the Harvard Business School and is regarded as one of the biggest authorities on leadership and change. He has authored 17 books, many of which are bestsellers. ‘Leading Change’, his biggest success was reedited last year a little earlier than his article ‘Accelerate’ in which he [...]

Are you asking the right questions? – different types of meetings

On 14 January 2013, in change, innovation, meetings, by Ruben van der Laan
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People unite and gather to make great achievements. When these gatherings become formal we call them meetings. And everyone will agree that there are good and bad meetings. Sadly enough, in most organisations the bad ones dominate over the good ones. And it is sad indeed. Because you disengage from the group and that, in [...]

What is the ROI of your meetings?

On 10 December 2012, in change, meetings, methods, by Ruben van der Laan
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Meetings do cost money. Definitely. And you can find numerous tools that help you calculate the costs of your meetings, such as TIM, Time = Money or many more downloadable apps on the internet. But what do these numbers really say? It only tells you how much money you invested in the meeting. And that [...]

‘An iPad is not a device’ – Interview with Dave Gray

On 28 October 2012, in creativity, improvisation, innovation, meetings, transformational, by Ruben van der Laan
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Dave Gray, founder and chairman of the visual thinking company XPLANE, has just released his new book ‘The Connected Company’. The speed that information moves across, customers, markets, investors and beyond, changes the environments in which our companies are operating. More and more, customers request special and tailor-made treatments. In ‘The Connected Company’ Dave Gray [...]

49 ways to spice up your meetings

On 13 August 2012, in creativity, ideas, meetings, by Ruben van der Laan
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Henry Ford would have loved producing our current day meetings the way he produced his cars. His famous ‘any colour – so long as it’s black’ would have marvelously fit the numerous meetings that are being churned out worldwide. A meeting room is a meeting room and a meeting is a meeting. All black, all [...]

Organising a miracle

On 12 July 2012, in change, meetings, transformational, by Ruben van der Laan
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There’s a fine line between pushing others into something new and letting them decide for themselves. It was only a matter of time. The decision to cut the budget by more than 50% was formally not yet taken, but only a miracle could save the organisation, a big music school in the South of the [...]

Who is the hero of your staff meeting?

On 5 June 2012, in meetings, participation, by Ruben van der Laan
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It was a former colleague at my first job that ignited my interest in meetings. He got me onto meetings… and how to avoid them (see also my other posts and workshops). But he did it in a strange way.   Just after my graduation I started working for a big organisation, one of those [...]

‘There is always space to act innovatively’ – interview with Paul Iske

On 11 April 2012, in creativity, improvisation, innovation, meetings, by Ruben van der Laan
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Paul Iske is the Chief Dialogues Officer at the ABN AMRO Bank. It’s an intriguing position in which he is responsible for the Dialogues House and Dialogues Incubator. The ABN AMRO Bank created these spaces to support entrepreneurial and innovative thinking and behaviour within and outside the bank.   Ruben: The Dialogues House and Dialogues [...]