# Insidious Sticky Note Meetings By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2023-05-11 There is a special type of manipulative meeting where sticky notes reign supreme. The point of these meetings is similar to a high-pressure sales situation: to get you to buy into something quickly without much thought. In these meetings, everyone writes down something on their sticky notes. It could be your wants, problems that you see, or potential solutions. Then one-by-one people read their sticky notes, and a facilitator puts them on the wall. Sometimes the facilitator is the salesperson, and other times they are merely an agent of the salesperson sitting amongst the group. Regardless of the situation, the facilitator influences how the sticky notes are grouped, aligned, and positioned. In the beginning, the choices made by the facilitator will seem minor, reasonable, and inconsequential. But, by the end, the facilitator's bias, or their employer's, will be on full display. You may notice how the solution does not align with your perspective, or you may have been painted into this corner without realizing it. The insidious part of this sticky note strategy is how it makes you the asshole if you disagree with the solution. "Hey, you were a part of creating this solution. Here are your sticky notes. Get with the program." Peer and organizational pressure quickly begins as you were part of the solution. But you weren't a part of deciding how to group and align those sticky notes. This is often why the facilitator puts on the robe of an unbiased supporter to combat this potential line of attack. But in reality, choices must be made and the only way to make choices is to be biased. Furthermore, no meeting exists without those in organizational power positions having undue influence on the decisions and actions of those in the meeting. If you are lucky, you'll get a small win to influence the direction of the solution. This is also by design to get you in line with the pre-baked solution that the facilitator and/or leader has already decided. Make no mistake that these meetings are never about discovering a solution. It already exists - you just haven't been tricked into believing it yet. And, for the record, sticky note meetings do not and will not solve problems beyond getting people in line. The world is much more complex than small pieces of paper and 5-10 words. #### Related Items [[Meetings]] [[Decision-making]] [[Manipulation]] [[Grouping]] [[Thinking]] [[Power]] [[Authority]]