Or so you might think after reading his essay on the economics of meetings. What is certainly true is that a man of Mike’s talents certainly spends too much time in meetings.
Mike Munger is never late
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In my opinion Mr. Munger had an awful lot of time on his hands (probably waiting for a meeting to start) as motivation to write this detailed analysis of late.
What he has written speaks volumes about the lunacy of tenure in academia, the immense roadblocks to termination set up by unions (particularly in education), and the EEO commission that sits on top of every businessman's shoulders just waiting for someone to file a complaint.
An efficient business, run by intelligent people, would simply terminate someone who is late more than once and who can not show specfic evidence of an act of God that prevented him/her from being there on time.
To paraphrase a battlefield observation, "nothing focuses an employee's concentration like the sight of a colleague being fired for transgressions he knows he is prone to commit."
Good and intelligent employees get the message, lack luster ones think an exception will be made for them. It is just another way nature gave us of weeding out those that aren't concentrated on earning their money.
I have noticed this occurs in more than just meetings. I have many friends who when attending social events refuse to commit to start times (inconveniences everyone else) because they can't commit to being on time. It really is an epidemic, especially now that it is so easy to set up n alarms to remind you every minute before the event/meeting!
I think all of these pronouncements is specific to the environment the speaker is used to, so I don't think it is fair to make broad generalizations.
For example, the company is work for is very interrupt driven with many conflicting priorities, so sometimes it is impossible to be on time all of the time. The ones that are, usually have their jobs revolve around the meetings.
I agree with anomdebus. It's probably the tension between creative people and managers. Meetings in such environments (or "meatings" as I used to call them) often revolve around getting the creative types to commit to when they will have their next big "Aha!" moment. This is why in the Internet age, the most creative people will just go do their own thing. I'd starve myself and maybe even my family before considering subjecting myself to that kind of tyranny again.
Also, one thing I have found with airplanes. I have arrived at the airport 90 minutes in advance and still managed to miss a flight. A short, truthful explanation to an airline employee got me rebooked on a competing airline's flight that arrived 10 minutes earlier. I've also arrived at the gate 5 minutes after they closed it and they've kindly let me on. A nice smile and polite tone of voice get lots of mileage. In the latter case, it is a bigger PITA for the airline to remove your checked bag than to shuffle you on a couple minutes late. As long as you don't make a habit of stretching the rules and aren't a jerk, they are pretty accommodating.