The Importance of Meeting Norms

Stephen discovers that a large percentage of meetings are unnecessary, costing millions of dollars each year. He realizes that this cost only takes into account wasted time and doesn't consider the loss of ideas or the resulting fatigue and stress. He also discusses the concept of meeting recovery syndrome, where bad meetings linger in our minds and need to be shared with others. Stephen wonders why we continue to have bad meetings when organizations have established norms for them. These norms are often based on tradition rather than evidence, and people rarely question or change them. He believes this is due to what psychologists call pluralistic ignorance.