How To Appear Smart in Meetings PART 1 (based on the book)

Join Josh and Arika as the discover the secret world of cushy jobs and how you Appear Smart in Meetings.  

Transcript

00:06
Okay. Hey everyone. Welcome back to Yeah, whatever. And welcome back to a very special 4th of July. It's the 4th of July. Oh, actually little sparkling motions with his fingers. He told you guys that I hear that later. You know, of that power of editing. Oh my God. Is my cat doing she has the zoomies. Oh,

00:34
She's got it. Hi, you got the zoomies? Zoomies? Hi! Oh, like a baby. And since it's 4th July tomorrow, everyone tonight, remember, you have to put a hot dog out for Jennifer Coolidge. So that's the little tradition. Oh, like the joke about throwing a hot dog down a hallway? No. Remember the thing? Oh, you look like the 4th of July. Oh, I want a hot dog real bad. Why do

01:00
That's  from legally blind  So  the joke is now like Santa Claus  God is that my voice  my off the charts what it sounds like I know no as long as it's within oh  What about Santa Claus so you know how you put out like milk and cookies yeah, yeah, but on 4th of July

01:25
No,  it's on TikTok. Oh my God, that's so funny. Yeah, there's also a thing where you put out like  like  hot dogs and burgers for Captain America before. So that's really cute. Yeah, that's adorable. I love how like a festive like I feel like America is kind of progressively becoming more more festive. We come up with like reasons to celebrate things. Yeah. And more like we add funny traditions.

01:51
for

02:20
I'm sorry, but  I love Halloween, but Halloween starts September 1st. Yeah, exactly, a reasonable amount of time. July, August, let summer have its day. Yeah, summer's gotta fizzle out, so you gotta have pool parties and stuff like that. Yeah, and barbecues, and  don't be putting up skeleton decorations or whatever that is at Costco you showed me. Yeah, did show you the picture? Yeah, they're selling lawn decorations for Halloween now. No.

02:48
Before the fourth of July. It's not before the fourth of July. could literally buy. It's not even, summer is not even over. Fall has not even begun. No, summer's half, like barely half over. So we just had the summer equinox like two weeks ago. You know, I feel like people used to get mad if you put up like Halloween decorations on October 1st. And it's like, OK, honestly, you can see one, but like  also like.

03:14
Come on, it's July. Like, that's way too early. Yeah, I know. I mean, Disney is also having their first Halloween party in August, Thanks.

03:25
Hey, whoa, look at all those dolphins  patriotic dolphins  boys in blue Good old Navy.  Anyway, those are the real Marines. What were we talking about earlier? I want to get back to that

03:40
So, well speaking of work, I was saying like, were talking about job changes and we the jobs, blah, blah. Corporate. And then you were thinking like, you know, we're trying to find like easy jobs, know, like jobs that you can easily switch over from anything. Yeah, pivot mid-career. Exactly. then I said, you know. lucrative.

03:58
to you maybe a project manager because you've done some research. Right, I've been thinking about doing project manager. Then you told me about the guy that buzzes around on his golf cart. and then like there's a guy that switched from my department to another department in my work. And I see him kind of like, you know, on an off day he'll be just walking. He'll be in a suit, he'll just be walking here. I'll be like, hey, what's up? What are you doing? He's like, oh yeah, you I gotta go to this meeting, you know, blah, blah, blah, in Toontown or whatever. I'm like, oh, that's great.

04:27
And then, you know, I see him another day and he'll be like carrying a box. Right. And I'll be like, oh, what's in the box? Oh, just papers, you know, just like,  you know, he showed me some papers, like very colorful, like, like construction paper papers.  Like, you know, he's like delivering  like, you know, to children or something. I'm like, oh, OK.  You know, maybe that's what if that's exactly what he's literally taking like construction paper to like, right.  Like like a.

04:53
CEOs and stuff like that. Yeah. OK, what's what's the next idea?  No,  I think I figured out the easy job at my work and I really want to use that. And you said and I quote,  think I discovered the project manager position of Disneyland. Yeah, I think I did. And because the reason why is because when I'm I've been thinking about transitioning to project management and when I look at  like YouTube videos of what they do, I still can't.

05:21
figure it out. And I've been watching them  for days  and there it's just like, okay, we have a, you know, we have a meeting with some  stakeholders  and,  and I keep thinking like, what are they  holding? Exactly. There's stakes. What, what are the stakes?  I believe it has nothing to do with meat.  I know that,  but like I, what are they?  I mean, what's, what's the stakes?  And you know,

05:50
who knows, maybe it's a marketing agency and maybe the stakes are they're invested  in  some  campaign going very well. I don't know, but the project manager moves a lot of pushes a lot of buttons on the computer, moves things around on calendars  and  attends  Zoom meetings,  asks people when they're gonna get tasks done and then.

06:18
adds that into the calendar for the rest of the team to see when  Rajit is going to have this particular project completed.  And then, I don't know, it's like, I just can't figure, it's a lot of that, like bureaucratic,  right? Is that what you say? Bureaucratic? Yeah, I mean, I think that there's a lot of gatekeeping with cushy jobs, right? It's just like, what is this person actually doing? Is  this middle man necessary?

06:45
And apparently it is because the job outlook is 7 % growth by 2033. mean, I mean a lot of people just want to put something on someone and just be like, get it done. Yeah. That's the person that I guess is kind of the middleman between like, I don't know, the software developer and the meat making company that wants their website changed, you know? Yeah.

07:12
Whatever, they're the person in between. Say the board, right? The board doesn't really want to talk to the creative team. Right, yeah, they also do,  that I was told by an actual project manager that project managers are often,  they do interact with C-level execs because they're kind of the person that's just overseeing the whole bit. Yeah.  And that's fair. There's just a lot of things. so anyways, we got back to the drawing board.

07:41
on it and you know,  I just said, I told Josh, you know, if that's what it is at Disneyland, there's one there, right? Maybe that's not his title, but he's essentially. He's essentially, yeah. Doing that. He's doing that.  You know, all that matters when it comes to these  kinds of corporate roles is that we look at the data.

08:06
Oh, are you doing the gatekeeping, lingo,  that  everyone thinks that your job is more important than it See, when you talk about lingo, I don't know what you're talking about. Can you expand on that?

08:21
So I can expound on it actually.  So.  Okay. Can you also extrapolate the data while you're doing that? can probably dissect  the data.  Okay. Yeah. And I could compartmentalize  in,  you know,  an easy to read spectrum.  What is the modus  operandi here?  Wow, we're going Len.  Well,  e pluribus unum.

08:50
And like and such at two  but also  synergy  and also  Imagine  yes, yeah,  I mean you have to  actually could I get your attention really quick  I never knew my father

09:13
I never knew my fault. So, let's just start this meeting  with that in mind.  I  am  profoundly blown away and I don't entirely know why.  Really?  But that  just was really  intense.  You know, I just want to stop you right there and I just want to thank you  for all your hard work.  Okay, go on.  You're so good at this.

09:43
Okay, well  let's start with this I  you see I made a PowerPoint  Look at it.  Is everyone looking  Hey  Actually, can I can I Jeff's not here? I think we should wait for Jeff  Okay, everyone hold please.  I think everyone should be here for you know,  so did anyone need to use the bathroom or  Take a little quick coffee break while we wait for Jeff

10:11
You know, I think before Jeff gets here, we should brainstorm really fast.  Just maybe like a five minute exercise of  what we can do better  for today. Right.  And  just  so we're all on the same page,  I want to just really emphasize- Actually, I- what page are we on again?  I just want to- I want everyone to be on the same page. Just- it's just- if you just look at the- just look at the table in front of us.

10:40
I mean, really look at it.  I see your point.  Yeah. Yeah.  And so that's all I'm saying. Speaking of points,  we're here's OK. There's not there's no we're talking about project management, right? Yeah.  OK.  And marketing campaigns  and mockups  will office reference for those.  Anyways.

11:06
Um, it's a high level thing. Don't worry about Jeff. Just got back Jeff Jeff. Oh, yeah, could you yeah, could someone uh, could someone brief Jeff about? Sorry, if you guys could just lower your voices.  I  it's just it this is extremely important Jeff read my notes  Okay  Sorry, so just as long as everyone's  Do I have everyone's full attention  at this moment? Could you actually say the last thing you said again just louder for the people in the back? Okay  Thank you.  Does everyone

11:36
Is everyone  listening?  Do I have everyone's full attention? Yeah guys, cell phone's off, okay?  Is everyone's phone off?  Yeah, Jeff?  Okay.  Dave, are you... Okay, I can't, I don't even see him. Wait, hold on, this is really important. I'm just going to record this  on my laptop.  Okay. Thank you.  Thank you for  attending.

12:01
this meeting and understanding how important the details are.  So as I was saying,  when one is trying to get from point A, which is where we're at right now, really, if you think about the corporate outlook that is us,

12:19
There is also  point B.  And I'm not seeing  in this branch.  I'm not seeing how we're connecting  the two.  What do you guys think?  You think we're doing a bad job at connecting?

12:38
Okay. Yeah. So if you could actually tell us, actually, one actually, no one stopped. No one talk right now. Just think about that. Yeah. I don't want to see hands raised. Just think about what we were talking about. Yeah. I'm sorry. What was that?  So it's not what I mean.  And maybe I'm just speaking for myself.  I can't say anything for anyone else in this room,  but when we're talking about getting  from point A to point B,  it's not necessarily linear.

13:07
Sometimes we have to have an organic  process and it's a squiggly, it's a wave. Right. It's not even, I mean, it could just be like a pulse. know, really like a, like a burst. Yes.  A true  vibration. Yeah. And in essence, mean, who, who, who's actually to say that we're actually at,  at point A to begin with,  we might actually be at a point before point A people.  This might be.

13:36
Honestly,  number two.  Wow.  And not even a point at all or a letter. It could just be a number  or a symbol. Maybe it's an at sign.  Well, let me throw this by you, OK?  OK, I'm ready to catch unity.

13:55
That's all have to say.  What does  unity  mean to you?  How do we get from point A to point B  by unity?  And  let me draw, hold on, let me draw something.  Insert drawing sound effects here.  Okay, see this huge circle on the left?  This is corporate vision.

14:25
Okay, this huge circle on the right is the market infrastructure. Here is where they overlap. And that is the sweet spot. Okay, I want everyone to take a picture of this right now. Okay, you can, everyone can turn on their phones right now, but just for this picture, okay? Once you take a picture, I want all the phones to off. Okay, so.

14:56
Ask yourselves  why we are missing the mark here and please come up each. I would like each one of you to come up with at least five measurable strategies for how  we can address this problem within our company. And I'll be right back. I'm to go to the bathroom. Honestly, five seems like a lot,  but honestly, you know,  I'm pretty sure all of us can come up with five in the next five minutes.  And I hate to say it, but if you can't come up with five ideas in next five minutes.

15:26
I mean, what are you really doing here?  Right?  Exactly. what do you, like, what do you, what do you, why are you guys here  to begin with?  Okay, I'm back.  So that PowerPoint I wanted to show you guys  is  just  really this  simple  concept. Ready? Wow. And here it is. Oh.

15:52
Endeavor.

15:55
What does endeavor  mean to you?

16:01
And just let that simmer  for a minute.  I just want to point out  that  we are on time.  Awesome. And  does do you have the data pulled up?  Let me see here. I actually you know what? Jeff was finishing the data.  Jeff, you Jeff, are you on that? Jeff, you could you? Yeah, could you could  if Jeff's not on that, could someone else kind of  we just need to we just need to constrapulate the data. Yeah.

16:30
Yeah, we are appreciated Jeff. She really loves you right now. She does. Please give my cat some attention. Kitty! Kitty, hi kitty! Why is there a cat in this meeting? Oh yeah, that's right! We're a cat company. I forgot.

16:53
all this synergy and stuff. I forget sometimes, you know?  We forget.  That was fascinating. Thank you so much for sharing all of that with me.  As you can see, I have a lot of important work to do, so I'm just going get back to that now.  So if you  if you don't mind just...

17:13
probably get back to your workflow.  You know what?  I'm actually  right on time  with everything that I'm supposed to be doing.  And it's great working  with this, you know, the synergy of my coworkers.  Yeah. And I really appreciate how,  you know, we bounce ideas off of each other all the time.

17:40
And I think I am the first one. If I were to tell the truth,  I  am glad  to work here.  Every day.  And  yeah, I can't get enough of it.

17:58
So I'm actually very proud of all of you,  every single one of you.  And speaking of alcohol, I was wondering,  they didn't offer me any bottled water here. Is tap all they have?  Yes, but  it's the best tap water in the city. That's what they tell me.  I don't know. I've never actually had it.  You know,  we have Fiji water.  you want some Fiji...

18:27
Uh, Cory, could you get some of that Fiji water from the, from, uh, the other conference room? Yeah. And if there's not Fiji water, just, uh, just go into my office and get, and get some there. So.

18:41
Do you have a mini fridge in your office? Well, I have a container that chills fluids for prospecting individuals that come into my office. Hold on, I'm taking notes on this. Yeah, so I am... It's for other people.

19:12
So I wanted to  ask as far as,  you know,  this  whole concept goes, what is the protocol?  Well, usually we would just circle back and figure out what we did wrong.  if does anyone in this room have any idea what we did wrong?  So from eight, we  because we can't get to B, we usually circle back to A  and then we figure out.

19:40
You know, what is our priorities  and what is our mission goal, right?  What, you know, and then if our mission goal needs to change,  then it needs to be edited.  Right.  Again, I want to ask  the room, what does mission goal mean to you?  Actually, you know what? It might be a little complicated. Let's break those two words down  into  into one word.  So.

20:08
So first of all, what does mission mean?  And then what does goal means?  Is it the goal of the company? Is it the mission of the company? Are those the same thing?  Or are those two entirely different words  with different meanings?  You guys can take 60 seconds to think about it. Take your time. Oh, here. There's some Fiji water. you go. Oh, thank you. Yeah.  This is great. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah.

20:37
Yeah, so I just  I appreciate your guys generosity everyone having me here today. Thank you for coming in. I'm really fortunate to be able to talk about project management with you and I feel like we accomplished a lot really.  I feel like sometimes you know us  I hate to say guys but  I'm in this too okay.  We kind of get stuck in A but we all have to be B right now okay.  Yeah. Right now we're in A we're in B and this

21:05
is what our project manager is here for us to do. Yeah, and there's some people in this room  who  are just typical A's. They think like an A, act like an A, talk like an A. Which is not an insult,  okay?  Right. We need A to get to B. We need more at signs.

21:26
Did hear that?  Could everyone write that down?  And then put an at at the end of that. Okay?

21:35
Okay, I hope Simon is gonna send me the notes on this meeting. Simon, you got that? Okay, yes. He'll definitely send you the notes. Okay. Yeah, and I'm gonna send you, I'm actually gonna send you the recording as well. Yeah, just a quick blurb, really. You know what? Yeah, I'm gonna, we're going to summarize the notes into a neat paragraph. Also- And then we're gonna summarize the paragraph into one word. And we're gonna give it to you.

22:04
Do you think  this microphone, do think it can dial in  Seth?  I don't know. Well, we can try. Seth? Should we hear,  should we try him? Seth,  are you here? Okay, actually, let me just have the secretary do it.  Donna, would you ring Seth for us?  Thank you.

22:27
Hi, Seth, how you doing?  It seems to be muted.  Seth, can you hear us?

22:34
Can you hear the whole room, Seth?  Seth?  Okay,  he's not.  We're having technological issues, but...  Well, I hope you guys all enjoyed that, and I think we got a lot clarified here, so  we'll just all be focusing on how to be at signs or  point Bs.  And that way this  company can finally get to  the projections it was forecasted to.

23:03
That about wraps it up for me. Thank you everyone.