Neuroscientist around the globe now believe that human beings can be classified into two primary groups when it comes to their sleeping habits and productivity. Some of us are much more effective during the day while others are much more effective at night struggling to get up every morning.
The whole idea of having a common work time where everyone does a nine to six is really counter productive as per this theory, but that is not what this post is all about.
One of the building blocks of the theory that some people are much more effective during the early morning while others are much more productive during the late night dates back to the days where our ancestors were living in the woods and were gatherers.
It is believed that during that rather large number of years of evolution, the human race had figured out how to collaborate better for survival. Each tribe was comprised of typically two kinds of human beings. There was a group that was responsible for getting up early and gathering food for the tribe. Then there was the group that was responsible for staying up late and guarding the tribe against attacks from wild animals.
Years of evolution, morphed the neural pathways of these two groups in such a way that the first group was much more attentive and functional during early mornings, while the other group was much more attentive and functional during late nights. This theory, received a lot of attention in a book called Brain Rules by John Medina
Once you start comparing the modern day world with it's roots from the prehistoric era when our ancestors were barely getting down the tree and lighting fire, behaviors or individuals and how the human race might have morphed start making a lot of sense.
Take for instance the classic act of gathering in meeting rooms, sitting around a table and talking at length for hours about what is wrong and how we (the collective we) should fix it. The meeting room is typically filled with two kinds of people:
The First Kind: The young and enthusiastic developer, who is clearly not very comfortable there. He is fidgeting in the chair, looking at his watch to see the time, wondering when the meeting is going to get over, thinking about the memory leak in his code and how he is going to fix it and talking occasionally only when asked a specific question.
The Second Kind: The manager from the best management school in town, who is contributing actively to the discussion. Asking a lot of questions. Dragging the meeting longer, is in no hurry to end the meeting and in all probabilities is going to go and watch you tube videos after the meeting.
Your meeting is a Bonfire from the Pre Historic Era.
No. Seriously. Dive back into the depths of time. Our ancestors lighted up pieces of wood every night and gathered around it too feel the warmth of the fire. The fire was a symbol of safety. If you were a tribe from those days, who do you think would have liked the idea of spending an entire day and night around that fire?
The gatherers had stuff to do in the morning. They had to catch enough sleep, get up and get out there to get as much food for the tribe as possible. The guarders had stuff to do during the night. They had to catch enough sleep during the day, get their spears sharpened and be on the lookout for wild animals during the night. It was the sick and the old, that loved the fire the most and liked the idea of sitting around these fires for most of their time.
Nothing really changes all that much in the formation of the human brain in just a few hundred years. The fundamentals still remain the same. Look around you and you will discover that the people who enjoy the meetings the most are either incompetent, out of shape, out of touch or not very productive. They are not bad human beings.
They are just the 'sick' and the 'old'' of the software development world. The meeting to them is pretty much the bonfire. It is symbolic to safety, because they can almost never introduce a bug while in a meeting. It is symbol of warmth because nobody every shouts at each other in a meeting. It gives them a sense of belonging because they can now contribute (anyone can give ideas) without having to work really hard for it.
The meeting is their only way to stay connected to the tribe and get a share of the food and protection by the gatherers and the guarders.
The point of this post, was to remind you that if (and I am just saying if) you start enjoying your meetings, you are not gathering food and neither are you guarding the tribe against wild animals. You are just squatting around the warm and cozy fire expecting your share of free food. Contribute. Do some real work. Even if it is small. The least you can do is, stop enjoying those meetings and stop dragging the rest of the tribe into it.
Go on. Say no to those meetings.
I wish you good luck.
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