I'm running a project right now where the main stakeholder contact wanted me to call some meetings so we could brainstorm the use case scenarios, functions, etc. Thing was, she didn't want to relinquish the lead creative role for the project. So I'd be running meetings being a facilitator. The way she explained it, I felt like I would be babysitting people unnecessarily.
Me: OK, I can do that, but I'll just send a note out to everyone to brainstorm their ideas first, and then we can have items on the table to discuss.
Her: No, nobody has the same ideas or same vision, so we need to have a session first to brainstorm all the ideas.
Me: Well, I find in my experience that discussions can be much more productive if a lot of the thinking has been done beforehand. How about I'll just get everyone to think of a few items to suggest/discuss before we meet, and then our discussion will be able to really get into it?
Her: No, that's a waste of time. You'll be duplicating work. Besides, people won't know what to write beforehand. They need someone there who can help pull the ideas out of each person. Everyone already has the ideas, it just needs to be pulled out.
Me: Judging from my conversations with everyone else so far, I think this team is quite capable and intelligent. I really do believe we'll be more productive if everyone contributes some ideas beforehand so we can assemble an agenda of sorts. This won't restrict us from brainstorming new ideas either.
Her: No, they need someone there to guide their discussion and help them to articulate what it is they're thinking.
Me: That may be the case with many people, but that's really not the sense I'm getting from these folks. To be frank, I think it may even be insulting to think they need that kind of help.
Her: I'm not going to argue about this anymore. We can agree to disagree. Just organize the meetings.
Me (in my head): You're just too lazy to do your own work to figure out what you want, even though you claim to already know what you want.
End of story, there was no way getting around it. This was escalated to senior management, and while senior management agreed with my perspective, they told me to essentially take just care of her. So I scheduled the weekly meetings. The very first meeting, as I tried to lead the discussion, one of the senior customer folks involved suggested that they take away this discussion and come up with some documents and lists, and they'll come back to me when they're ready. I thanked God that competent people still existed.
You're very patient. After the second idiotic "no, it's a waste of time" I would have just said "ah ok, as you wish" and then did it how I wanted. Why bother trying to educate people who don't want to be smarter?
Me: OK, I can do that, but I'll just send a note out to everyone to brainstorm their ideas first, and then we can have items on the table to discuss.
Her: No, nobody has the same ideas or same vision, so we need to have a session first to brainstorm all the ideas.
Me: Well, I find in my experience that discussions can be much more productive if a lot of the thinking has been done beforehand. How about I'll just get everyone to think of a few items to suggest/discuss before we meet, and then our discussion will be able to really get into it?
Her: No, that's a waste of time. You'll be duplicating work. Besides, people won't know what to write beforehand. They need someone there who can help pull the ideas out of each person. Everyone already has the ideas, it just needs to be pulled out.
Me: Judging from my conversations with everyone else so far, I think this team is quite capable and intelligent. I really do believe we'll be more productive if everyone contributes some ideas beforehand so we can assemble an agenda of sorts. This won't restrict us from brainstorming new ideas either.
Her: No, they need someone there to guide their discussion and help them to articulate what it is they're thinking.
Me: That may be the case with many people, but that's really not the sense I'm getting from these folks. To be frank, I think it may even be insulting to think they need that kind of help.
Her: I'm not going to argue about this anymore. We can agree to disagree. Just organize the meetings.
Me (in my head): You're just too lazy to do your own work to figure out what you want, even though you claim to already know what you want.
End of story, there was no way getting around it. This was escalated to senior management, and while senior management agreed with my perspective, they told me to essentially take just care of her. So I scheduled the weekly meetings. The very first meeting, as I tried to lead the discussion, one of the senior customer folks involved suggested that they take away this discussion and come up with some documents and lists, and they'll come back to me when they're ready. I thanked God that competent people still existed.