A Cynic's view of meetings

The one moment I dread most in big meetings is when the Boss rocks back in his chair, makes a wide sweep with his arm and asks, 'what do you guys think?'

Suddenly, everyone feels compelled to have a point of view. Even those who were either catching up on sleep or checking email on their blackberry, perk up, put their arms back on the table and pretend to be thinking hard.

Then the verbiage comes. This ranges from thinking aloud to thought through. As the baton is passed on, everyone pretends to say something different. Most of the time, people say the same thing in different words. Its not considered good to say, 'I don't have anything to add'.

After a while, it becomes comical as people start snatching at scraps. Comments start focusing on format, colors and typos.

Now the Boss is in a quandary. Having asked everyone their opinion, he can't just ignore them. He has to "build on" what others have said. If you're lucky, the nightmare ends in one round. Mostly however, someone realises that he failed to say something intelligent and is compelled to make amends. Rarely does the 2nd attempt break away from the band of inanity.

More often than not, you leave the room more confused than clearer. Not much is achieved. But keeping with the general tone, you also pretend to understand.

What you have definitely achieved is a climbdown from purity of individual thought to the lowest common denominator of democratic concurrence.

Is there a way out of this?