How to save the world (or at least yourself) from bad meetings

Picture this,

it's Monday morning,

you're at the office,

you're settling in for the day at work,

and this guy,

that you sort of recognize from down the hall,

walks right into your cubicle

and he steals your chair.

Doesn't say a word--

just rolls away with it.

Doesn't give you any information

about why he took your chair

out of all the other chairs
that are out there.

Doesn't acknowledge the fact that you

might need your chair

to get some work done today.

You wouldn't stand for it.

You'd make a stink.

You'd follow that guy
back to his cubicle

and say, "why my chair?"

Okay, so now it's Tuesday
morning at the office,

and a meeting invitation pops
up in your calendar.

(Laughter)

And it's from this woman

that you kind of know from down the hall,

and it references some project

that you heard a little bit about.

But there's no agenda.

There's no information about

why you were invited to the meeting.

And yet you accept the meeting invitation

and you go.

And when this highly
unproductive session is over,

you go back to your desk,

and you stand at your desk

and you say,

"Boy, I wish I had those two hours back,

like I wish I had my chair back."

(Laughter)

Everyday,

we allow our co-workers,

who are otherwise very nice people,

to steal from us.

And I'm talking about something

far more valuable than office furniture.

I'm talking about time.

Your time.

In fact, I believe that we are

in the middle of a global epidemic,

a terrible new illness known as, MAS:

Mindless Accept Syndrome.

(Laughter)

[An involuntary reflex in which a person
accepts a meeting invitation without

even thinking why.

A common illness among
office workers worldwide].