As a participant in a meeting, there are several ways to approach one’s role.

Imagine participating in a meeting where the team is invited to come up with ideas.

One can approach such a meeting assuming that when people come together, ideas will appear. That’s when participants will not see much they can do to prepare for the meeting. It’s as if coming together will be enough to establish the ground for spontaneous ideas that will hit the mark.

Another approach is to review everything one knows that could contribute to the task of generating an idea. An idea appears within a context, but it doesn’t mean that the idea is adapted to the context in which it will be used. Thus, possibilities are just as interesting as limiting factors. Both apply to ideas that appear and help to validate or discard them.

The first approach doesn’t see a possibility to prepare. The second approach seeks to enhance the outcome of the meeting and prepares for that.