Conferences Quote by Jilly Cooper
“A lot of meetings are held to arrange when to have meetings. ... Meetings today are usually called conferences to make them sound more significant.”
About This Quote
Source Novel: The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous, Jilly Cooper, 1993
Meetings often become self‑referential, creating more meetings to discuss scheduling, inflating their perceived importance.
In simple terms: Meetings can become endless loops of planning.
Key Takeaway
Avoid unnecessary meetings; streamline scheduling.
Themes
productivity
bureaucracy
communication
Mood
frustrated
ironic
Type
observational
critical
When to use this quote
- team planning
- project management
- corporate culture
Key Concepts
organizational behavior
meeting fatigue
Questions to Reflect On
- How can you assess if a meeting truly adds value?
- What alternatives exist to a meeting?
A Different Perspective
Even well‑intended meetings can waste time if not purpose‑driven.
![“Talking things over has its place in an organization [but] so-called conferences are being grossly overdone. One executive stops at the desk of another to tell him, perhaps, about the wonderful score he made at golf on Saturday afternoon. This chin-chin immediately becomes a conference, and…” quote by B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e3c/b-c-forbes-2124_afternoon_talking-things-over-has-its-place-in-an_1904164.jpg)
![“I know that some of the folks in the press are uptight about this [moving the press corps out of the West Wing ], and I understand. What we're - the only thing that's been discussed is whether or not the initial press conferences are going to be in that small press - and for the people listening…” quote by Reince Priebus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/940/reince-priebus-3623_conferences_i-know-that-some-of-the-folks-in-the-pre_23230.jpg)
