Saturday, November 01, 2008

Minutes



We've been having all-staff emails winging into our mailboxes, advertising additional staff training seminars and workshops.

One of these was on Committee skills.

"Improve your minute taking".


I DON'T THINK SO!



My life has been too much dominated in the past by a very protestant (very English?) tendency to overwork.

(and I must admit I am, currently, rather strung-out, tired and tetchy from working rather too hard)

But as a general rule I'm better, these days, at saying no and working less and over the last few years I've stepped down from some exceedingly boring committees I used to sit on.


Anyway, I like to doodle in meetings.

If I'd been to such meetings recently, I'd be able to show you some of my doodlings.

Actually - glancing down at the floor, I see a folder covered with doodlings from a meeting some time ago.

here it is:






So.






"Improve your minute taking"



NO.

I DON'T THINK SO!!!!!

26 comments:

Dumdad said...

I'm a doodler too at meetings.

Unknown said...

And quite right too! Who'd want to take minutes at a meeting. I learned years ago to avoid committees like the plague.
I'm a telephone doodler...
Talking of emails - did you ever get the one I sent you?

R.L. Bourges said...

frankly, lettuce, I fail to see what improvements you need in minute-taking. I thought you summarized the whole Romanian gender differentation issue remarkably well in those two circuitous drawings. I fail to see why that person wanted to introduce the topic of wild mushrooms into the debate. Glad to see that was overruled - hmph.

best

mouse (aka kimy) said...

I'm with vanilla when it comes to meetings! avoid them like the plague - as someone who is task oriented I find 80-90% of meetings and exercise in frustration.

I have become much better saying no than I once was and in fact now am a 'no coach' to a few of my friends/colleagues who still have difficulty....

herhimnbryn said...

I used to doodle too ( to keep my eyelids open). Now? No more mtgs!

Woo Gilchrist said...

I also used to doodle in very long and totally boring Personnel Management Meetings - Yawn.

I once drew the entire main character cast of Star Wars - why? I have no idea, must have been something someone said that set me on that path.

Woo.
x

Queenie said...

I doddle all the time, what is wrong with me????????

Chick said...

In my opinion, all the best people doodle (& hate meetings so much).

Lynne said...

Some of those doodlings of yours could be framed. I especially like the lily and the mushrooms. And the wee froggie. Lovely! My doodles look like hen scratches and unrecognizable swirly bits.

lettuce said...

dumdiddlydoodledad
:-)

vanilla, i've never been a telephone doodler.... hmmm wonder why not

rlb, thankyou for your support. Personally I did think, actually, that the mushrooms could contribute to a new way of thinking... it was the frog i was less sure about. (always good to see a frog on the agenda tho)

kimy i'd raise your 90% to 93%. or even 95%
(i'm getting quite good at "No")

herhimnbryn, thats a future to be longed for!

devil mw - hello! so nice to see you again. I'd love to see your Star Wars doodles

queenie, maybe its the non-doodlers who have something wrong/missing...

chick, agreed. (see above) :-)

lynne thankyou - esp. you being such a funghi expert.

Akelamalu said...

I hate meetings and will do ANYTHING to get out of them!

Pecos Blue said...

I would not go either. It should be how to have one in bullet points.

r. said...

I'm with akelamalu!! I can't take notes nor doodle. I could daydream real well tho. :-)

Vintage to Victorian said...

Love the doodles. I'm a great doodler, but mine don't end up as mushrooms or fritillaries! I either fill in all the blank space with treble clefs or 5-petal flowers or a sort of freefall scribble.

Reya Mellicker said...

Your doodles are GORGEOUS!! Wow!!! Is there anything you can't do or make with those marvelous hands of yours?

Shammickite said...

I like the mushrooms best. I doodle too, but mine always seem to be made up of squares and triangles and often end up reminding me of the Union Jack. Hmmmm.... what does that say about me I wonder.

ArtSparker said...

Minute taking=thief of time

lettuce said...

ANYTHING, lamalu? anything AT ALL?

p blue, maybe asterisks are more fun than bullet points? or little hearts... or mini mushrooms...

ah but robert, maybe day-dreaming is a form of mental doodling

V2V - treble clefs, thats interesting. I do do flowers, and lots of free-fall

reya, would you like a list? (the celtic knotwork just takes practice - i went through a phase of being a bit obsessed with it...)

haha shammie. hmmmm indeed. I do boxes, and boxes inside boxes and on top of boxes and.... i do prefer my mushrooms, suspecting the boxes to be a signal of anal tendencies

artsparker - indeed. whereas many meetings might be at least semi-salvaged by a particularly good doodle

(or maybe not, actually)

Steve Reed said...

Why do we always have to be "productive"? Sheesh. I think doodling is a wonderful skill. (Though personally I opt for daydreaming.)

Thanks for your comment on my Blurb book! I had a great time putting it together, and I have to give Blurb credit -- it came out well! That's Xmas for my family, right there.

Barbara said...

You should sit next to Reya in class. You could have a doodle contest!

Squirrel said...

Isn't it the recording secretary's job to take the minutes?

President Obama ! Yes we did!

Shammickite said...

we stayed up till 1am watching the US election results last night (with the rest of the world), and I'm pretty happy about the way things turned out. The future has suddenly got a little brighter. It was very interesting being here in Florida on election day, specially as Florida was one of the pivotal states.
Finally America has someone with a bit of common sense in charge!
Hooray!
I hope he has someone to take minutes for him.

Trac said...

Wow - your doodles are brilliant!

I feel like a complete doodle failure now.

But I am a compulsive doodle failure.

Pod said...

it's because you're a noodle that you doodle

Crafty Green Poet said...

I have to take minutes sometimes, my rules are keep it brief and get them typed up quickly afterwards.

If I'm not minuting, I sometimes write haiku rather than doodle...

lettuce said...

steve, daydreaming or doodling - either way, far better than being productive.
Your book does looks great!

barbara, or a doodle collaboration?

Squirrel! you did! (lots of our meetings are not sufficiently important to have secretaries)

shammie, i wonder if he doodles?

stuff and nonsense trac. anyway, isn't it the point of doodles that theres no such thing as failure? or as a point?

what if i were a poodle, pod?

CGPoet I confess to being in a meeting yesterday where i had to take minutes. though i almost forgot. haiku as a form of mental doodling, thats rather appealing :)