Too many words #5 It's all pre-decided

Big decisions are not taken in meetings. They usually happen outside and before the meeting.

One thing I learned during my time at BCG was that you need to make sure you meet and align your recommendations with all key stakeholders before a major meeting. It was a cardinal rule.

This approach worked better because there were bound to be people who would have concerns. This helped us solve or address them in a smaller group. We also had a deep understanding on where all the stakeholders were with respect to our recommendations. We left no room for any surprise.

While many people spend a lot of time and effort in problem solving, root cause analysis and putting forward recommendations, they often under-estimate the time they need to spend on alignment with key people before such a major meeting.

Actually if you align with everyone beforehand, the meeting just becomes a formality, which is what it should be.

You should never go into such meetings, hoping to get the outcome.

Take the outcome with you.

Remember, it is all pre-decided.

Fin