<p>Published on <a href="https://blog.prototypr.io/solve-the-3-most-common-meeting-maladies-with-one-simple-tool-26800cd75644?source=rss----eb297ea1161a---4">| Prototyping: From UX to Front End &mdash; Medium</a> Daniel Stillman <img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*iyGhQJQxzu27OtU-SKHIog.jpeg"></p>
<h3>Think Alone before Thinking Together and Banish Groupthink.</h3>
<p>For the next few months, I’ll be <strong>Working Out Loud</strong>, creating a book on designing and facilitating creative conversations.</p>
<p>Today I started that experiment. I’ve put together an <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14rDfzz588A1q6WbWDBfgR0ymcd8L7jMnLGS7jHkf4Cc/edit#gid=0">outline of a book</a> I’m going to write and will be live streaming it weekly on my <a href="http://theconversationfactory.com/podcast/">Podcast </a>and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/theconversationfactory/">Facebook page</a>. This is a little write up and capture of what I’ve covered: Three Common Meeting Maladies</p>
<p><iframe src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2Fm_2XxeAINTI%3Ffeature%3Doembed&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dm_2XxeAINTI&#038;image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2Fm_2XxeAINTI%2Fhqdefault.jpg&amp;key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07&amp;type=text%2Fhtml&amp;schema=youtube" width="854" height="480" frameborder="0"><a href="https://medium.com/media/ac7e58ded2285ed867c5639c6f1855bd/href">https://medium.com/media/ac7e58ded2285ed867c5639c6f1855bd/href</a></iframe></p>
<h3>1. First Speaker Syndrome</h3>
<p>This is one of the biggest issues I see with group conversations. Whoever speaks first, all responses are in…ehem…response to that. Simply having everyone write down what they think first and mapping the group’s thinking means that we can process the overlap and see the gaps. If you have a persistent <em>First Speaker Syndrome </em>sufferer ( or a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/derosetichy/2013/04/15/what-happens-when-a-hippo-runs-your-company/">HiPPO</a>) in your team, you know what I’m talking about.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*iyGhQJQxzu27OtU-SKHIog.jpeg"></p>
<h3>2. Wrong Room Syndrome</h3>
<p>Do you show up at a meeting and ask “Am I in the wrong place? Because y’all are *not* solving the *real* problem in here.”</p>
<p>Wrong Room Syndrome happens because of mis-framing, over-framing or under-framing a problem. It also happens when the invite isn’t accurate, or there isn’t one! Stopping, stepping back and using Think Alone, Think Together to reframe the challenge on the table is very, very helpful.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*LUbtu9cmVTUrKOE4-g3JAg.jpeg"></p>
<h3>3. The Plane Can never land</h3>
<p>If you’re a They Might Be Giants fan, you’ll know this reference. If you don’t, you’re welcome!</p>
<p><iframe src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FzxniOZvNDUU%3Fstart%3D31%26feature%3Doembed%26start%3D31&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DzxniOZvNDUU&#038;image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FzxniOZvNDUU%2Fhqdefault.jpg&amp;key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07&amp;type=text%2Fhtml&amp;schema=youtube" width="640" height="480" frameborder="0"><a href="https://medium.com/media/f62c8c1b7da8dc349335daac71b7baaa/href">https://medium.com/media/f62c8c1b7da8dc349335daac71b7baaa/href</a></iframe></p>
<p>If your team conversations never land, run out of time, don’t launch or misfire, you know what this feels like. I love <em>landing the plane</em> for groups. It’s my job! That’s how I describe a meeting or workshop that gets to a real and satisfying place. A solid landing means you can move on to the next thing. Never landing means you are stuck, forever.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*w6J3QBMAXZcokIFCRi0i0A.jpeg"></p>
<h3>Seeing the problem in a shared way, making fresh connections, positive closure</h3>
<p>Thinking alone before thinking together (TATT) and using visual tools for your group conversations will make things better. I’ll talk more about all of this next week!</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*AcFXnP8Uc5jnCmUjD4XGrQ.jpeg"></p>
<h3>Big or Small, Internal or External</h3>
<p>BTW, it doesn’t matter if you’re in charge or not, if this is a one-on-one or a day-long workshop, or week long sprint…TATT will help!</p>
<p>if you’ve made it this far, consider signing up for updates about the next episode!</p>
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<p><a href="https://blog.prototypr.io/solve-the-3-most-common-meeting-maladies-with-one-simple-tool-26800cd75644">Solve the 3 Most Common Meeting Maladies with One Simple Tool</a> was originally published in <a href="https://blog.prototypr.io">Prototypr</a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.</p>


Solve the 3 Most Common Meeting Maladies with One Simple Tool

Think Alone before Thinking Together and Banish Groupthink.

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