“Let’s not get into the weeds” is one of my least favorite business expressions of all time. And it’s practically inevitable when any high-functioning group gets together for a meeting, inevitably after some interesting and detailed discussion of something or other, said by a seemingly sage person.
It’s a great conversation ender, for sure. And, I will admit grudgingly, sometimes it is totally appropriate. Except this:
Moses was found in the weeds.
(OK, yes, it was actually “reeds” according to Genesis, but they’re weeds, right?)
What do I mean by invoking one of the more memorable Biblical references? Well, I’m sure you’ve probably witnessed a time when a smart person starts discussing details, and proceeds to wade into the mucky parts of a particular issue, and – lo and behold – something pretty important surfaces. Something that wouldn’t have ordinarily come up otherwise, all because someone was trying to be what I call a selective gardener at a meeting by piping up, “Let’s not get into the weeds.”
If you’ve been to a lot of meetings in your life, you know what I mean by a “selective gardener” … It’s that person who inevitably talks incessantly about their project more than any others have about theirs, often getting into more detail than is necessary. Except when someone else then tries to do exactly the same about their project, out comes the “let’s not get into the weeds” like so much DDT.
How to deal with these selective gardeners, and more importantly, how to not become one yourself?
Here’s a few ideas:
- Don’t ever say “let’s not get into the weeds.” Repeat: ever. (See, that’s an easy one!)
- Like any responsible meeting attendee, ask for an agenda and expectations of how time will be spent during the meeting. If the intent of the meeting is to share only high-level summaries of various topics, maybe consider not having the meeting at all – a radical idea, I know – and ask for an email/memo instead. If a meeting is insisted upon, negotiate a time limit per topic and/or an expectation set at the beginning that no details will be discussed. (See, avoiding even the temptation to bring out the weed-whacker.)
- If the meeting is actually going to be productive (i.e., includes discussions of details and even scenario planning or problem solving, two exceedingly valuable tasks for groups of smart business people to engage in at a meeting), set an expectation at the outset not only for the amount of time to be allotted but also for the level of detail that will be discussed. If, during the meeting, the discussion has drifted beyond those expectations, suggest either having the most interested participants move the discussion to after the meeting or (radical again, I know) get consensus from attendees to continue the discussion and postpone other agenda items until another meeting. (Of course, this assumes you’ve followed the cardinal meeting agenda rule: talk about the important stuff first!)
- If someone says “let’s not get into the weeds” to you while you’re talking about something important (detailed or otherwise), and you’re pretty sure they’re either self-interested dolts or just trying to look good in front of the boss (or both), use the Moses line from above. Works. Every. Time. Once the chuckles have subsided, take the opportunity to acknowledge the fact that the details you’ve been discussing are important but that if they should be something a different group of people should be dealing with, then you’d be happy to accommodate that. (And say it sincerely, not snidely.) Otherwise, keep on keeping on with your details.
We all like to think that what we’re working on is important, and, as a result, should also be important to others. Wouldn’t it be nice if that bubble-like existence proved to be reality more often than not? Except it’s not. But it doesn’t mean various details about our projects or other works are unimportant, either, just ready for the pithy pruning piping-up of a selective gardener at the next meeting.
As every gardener knows, the right amount of water, sunlight and food gets you a beautiful result… but too much of any of those can be disastrous. In the end, setting expectations at the outset of a meeting is usually all that is needed to keep the right balance between valuing everyone’s contributions (details and all) and not having discussions get choked off by too much of a good thing.
