Please, no more flip charts

Over the past week, I've taken leave from my regular day job to engage in some professional development.

Last week, I participated in a two-day workshop on social styles (think: Myers-Briggs where your co-workers fill out your questionnaire), and this week it's Stephen Covey's 'Seven Habits of Highly Effective People'.

I have some posts waiting in the queue that will deal with the actual content of these classes in a serious light, but, for the time being, I am tired of self-help in the workplace.

I'm tired of listing my shortcomings and then having to discuss them with my classroom neighbor. I'm tired of over-enthusiastic instructors who thank me for 'sharing' and speak in sentences that have blanks. ("If we manage our time better, we can become more ... ... anyone? ... yes, effective people."). And, I'm really tired of listening to the class do-gooder tell us how she feels about everything we learn.

I also don't want to spend anymore time with the class nutbag who (coincidence?) inevitably ends up seated next to me. (My favorite nutbag moment from last week: "I don't want to be considered the 'glue' of the team. Horses are shot before they're turned into glue.")

This week, as I mentioned, I've moved on to Stephen Covey. Have you ever heard him speak in real life? He sounds like an out-of-shape version of Casey Kasem. In fact, my opinion of the class would suddenly ratchet up a notch if he said something like, 'Zoinks, Scoob! It's like really dark in this abandoned warehouse. Is that a doobie in your weekly planner?'


I've got one more session all day tomorrow, and then I'm looking forward to getting back to my real job. In fact--in an effort to become more effective--I've already laid out next week's rocks in my FranklinCovey planner: avoid group discussions that culminate in a flip chart list; stay away from meetings that last so long that refreshments are served; and do not--do not!--sit next to that nice-looking lady in the denim onesie.

She's probably crazy.

A version of this post is available via Podcast.