How do you think in meetings

18 May 2020 · 2 min

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1:37

In this short monologue, the speaker examines two dominant mental models that shape how people behave in meetings. The first, called “windscreen thinking,” is a forward‑looking, project‑manager mindset that constantly asks what needs to be done next to move a task or project forward. The second, “rearview mirror thinking,” is a retrospective, storytelling‑focused approach that dwells on past events, anecdotes, and what‑could‑have‑been. While both styles have value, the speaker argues that meetings become unproductive when participants linger in rearview‑mirror mode, because stories and past‑event recaps do not advance the agenda. The core recommendation is to adopt a windscreen‑thinking stance in meetings—focus on next steps, actionable items, and future direction—to keep discussions efficient and goal‑oriented.

Chapters

Have you ever stopped to think about how you think or how your team thinks? Meetings tend to fall into a pattern of how people think, and there's 2 very broad patterns. The first is people look through the windscreen and they look forward to see where they're going and where they need to go. They think like a project manager. And the other type of thinking is the people who look in the rearview mirror and they look at where they've been. Both types of thinking are necessary at certain times, but you need to be more focused on the future and where you're going. People get frustrated in meetings when you talk about where you've been. The problem is some people have fabulous storytellers and raconteurs in their membership, and they tell wonderful stories. Oh, you should have been there. You should have seen what he said and the look on his face. And it's interesting. People want to hear it, but it doesn't actually progress the meeting forward. So you need to be a windscreen thinker. You need to be thinking forward. You need to think like a project manager. You need to think this: what do we need to do next to progress this particular project or task or whatever it is you're talking about or working on? Be a windscreen thinker, not a rearview mirror thinker.