We begin episode six with what seemed like a benign situation turning into a chaotic mess that quickly leads to self introspection, and the feeling of failure. All due to a meeting.

“It was like an escalating volcanic eruption. All of a sudden, people were arguing and now the room was fractured into two different arguments that are about stuff that I thought I had sorted out. I’m trying to get control of the room, but I am way over my head.” — Scott Berkun

In this episode, Scott Berkun shares a story about how he thought he had control of a meeting until he didn’t, and then he realized maybe he wasn’t prepared. It’s a story (and a lesson) about preparation and facilitation that any project manager, leader, or master facilitator can relate to. And it just happens to take place in the golden age of Internet Explorer and Windows!

Episode highlights:

[2:00] Meet Scott Berkun
[4:00] The story begins on a product team at Microsoft
[5:00] An escalating volcanic eruption!
[7:00] Calling a time out
[9:00] Lessons learned: anticipation and facilitation
[13:00] Being bold and obnoxious as a facilitator
[17:00] Scott Berkun’s thoughts on failure

About our guest

Scott Berkun, bestselling author and speaker

Scott Berkun is a bestselling author and popular speaker on UX design, innovation, leading teams, public speaking and other subjects. He’s published eight books, including How Design Makes The World, The Myths of Innovation, Confessions of a Public Speaker, and The Year Without Pants. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Guardian, Wired magazine, USA Today, Fast Company, National Public Radio, CNN, NPR, MSNBC and other media. His popular blog is at scottberkun.com and he tweets at @berkun.