Stream of Consciousness (2008-07-02)
July 2, 2008
- So in a project do you manage to the project plan or develop to reality? #
- Sitting in on a technology strategy meeting to discuss the roll-out and support structure for our new online communities. #
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My name is Dave Sabol and I work at the intersection of technology, online learning and knowledge management for 
Hey, Dave, I’d be pretty ticked if a person sitting in a meeting with me was Twittering or texting instead of being part of the meeting. Twitter when the meeting is over - if you really must.
David, thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. While I can’t say that I agree with your position, I do appreciate the sentiment. My challenge to you would be to say: how is capturing my random thoughts via Twitter any different than doing it with pen and paper or via a laptop. For better or for worse, part of our organizational culture is to have devices with us in meetings. That’s not to say it is ideal or proper in all circumstances but it is what it is. It also doesn’t hurt to mention that many of our meetings are done in a virtual manner which means we are collaborating by way of all types of ICT (interactive communication technology), so it’s there anyway.
Not to get too philosophical about meetings or technology but for me it’s a matter of learning style. In all honesty I was conditioned by my corporate background to feel obligated to have a notebook with me at every meeting and to furiously capture what was going on via that medium because that was what was expected. However, what I found was the fact that I became so immersed in capturing the events that I often didn’t participate as I could/should have. For me that was too distracting.
However, what I found was that I didn’t need any notes or tools to capture the more salient points of the meeting…I have an auditory learning style which simply meant that I could literally remember what I needed to by participating and simply listening. Over time, I learned to use that to my advantage and became a very active participant and still walk away from a meeting having contributed and actually capturing what I needed to.
As I became more proficient, I’d take mental snapshots of feelings, thoughts or ideas via one medium or another, Twitter just happens to be one of them. For me, the moral of the story is what works for one doesn’t always work for others but that doesn’t make it right or wrong. It simply makes it a cognitive/learning/work style difference. At the end of the day, there is rarely a meeting that I attend that I don’t participate in fully, I’ve just learned to balance my need to participate with my need to capture what I am thinking, feeling or seeing as I do.
Dave, I’m not commenting on your learning style. You can learn in whatever way works for you. If your Twitter postings are merely the sharing of your notes, that’s fine. However, you give the impression that you are talking to people outside of the meeting while the meeting is going on. That’s the part that bugs me.