Martin was returning to work in his London office after spending two weeks with his brother in New York.He was coming back with a heavy heart.It was not just that it was the end of a wonderful holiday; it was not just that he invariably suffered badly from jet lag ; it was that Monday mornings always began with a team meeting and,over the months,he had grown to hate them. Martin was aware that colleagues approached these meetings with hidden agenda ; they indulged in  game playing; and he knew that people were not being honest and open.The meetings themselves were bad enough-there was all the moaning afterwards at the meeting like"I could have improved on that idea,but I wasn't going to say". As this morning's meeting began,Martin prepared himself for the usual dullness and boredom.But,as the meeting progressed,he became aware of a strange background noise.At first,he thought that he was still hearing the engine noise from the aircraft that had brought him back to London.But,as he concentrated on the noise,it became a little clearer. He realized,to his amazement,that he could actually hear what they were thinking at the same time as they were speaking.What surprised him,even more than the acquisition of this strange power,was that he discovered that what people were saying was not really what they were thinking.They were not making clear their reservations.They were not supporting views which they thought might be popular.They were not contributing their new insights.They were not volunteering their new ideas. Martin found it impossible not to respond to his new knowledge.So he started to make gentle interventions,based more on what he could hear his colleagues thinking than on what he could hear them saying."So,John,are you really saying...""Susan,do you really think that?""Tom,have you got an idea on how we could take this forward?"They looked at him,puzzled.In truth,he felt rather proud of his newly-acquired talent. As the meeting progressed,it was clear to him that each member of the meeting was learning how to hear the thoughts of the others.The game playing started to fall away; people started to speak more directly; views became better understood; the atmosphere became more open and trusting. The meeting ended.As people left the room,Martin found that he could still hear what they were thinking."That was the best meeting we've ever had.""All meetings should be like that.""In future,I'm going to say what I think". Why did Martin hate his company's team meeting?
Because it had to be held every Monday morning. Because he was tired of hosting such a meeting. Because he couldn't control the meeting that was out of order. Because the meeting atmosphere wasn't open and trusting.