Meetings, the know nothings guide to looking good.

Click to enlarge.

I guess we all know the old saying, “ An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.”

This post is more about another one, “A camel is a horse designed by a committee.”

In this modern world committees are the way to go, after all that way the blame can be spread around, and if anything good ever comes out of it you can claim credit for it, especially if you called the group into being.

The following is from American Thinker:

The idea of a “summit” is typical of a community organizer mentality. Convene the stakeholders, let them vent about the problem, give a shout-out to those already engaged in efforts to address the problem, get at least one member of the “establishment” that caused the trauma to attend and be contrite, define a vague action plan, stress the need for the whole community to get actively involve, break into small groups to discuss the issues, put people’s thoughts on flip chart paper, have the break-out groups’ scribes report back to the larger group, be sure everyone signs their names and contact information on a clipboard, and then schedule a few interviews with the local media to exaggerate the outcomes of the event.

As the Summit ends in December, the room will be all a-buzz with optimism and bonhomie. Then nothing will change. It’s about feeling good, not doing good.

Dr Sanity has a great take on this phenomenon:

I have always thought that when you don't have a clue about what you are doing, the best way to disguise this is to call a meeting. Make sure you name it something big, important, and fancy--like a "December Jobs Summit" or something. It will delay the widespread appreciation of your ignorance.

December might well be a jobs trough, as opposed to a summit; but since the real reason for calling a meeting on the issue to disguise the fact that "the President hasn't got a clue how to grow the economy," it doesn't really matter.

Consider the following quotes:

"If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings." ~Dave Barry, "Things That It Took Me 50 Years to Learn"

or, better yet, from one of my favorite thinkers:

People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything. ~Thomas Sowell

Or, the ultimate description, from Carl Jung:

A collection of a hundred Great brains makes one big fathead.