Meeting while walking
Translated from the French original.
A friend has just pointed me to an article about walking therapy sessions.
It makes me want to share a few thoughts on what walking can bring to meetings.
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walking undeniably makes it easier to formulate ideas. Think of the Greek philosophers who walked with their disciples around the stoa (the Stoics)… It contributed not only to the intelligibility of their words, but also allowed their walking companions to express their own ideas more easily as the master put them to the question … The famous maieutics.
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if you doubt it, take the time one day to use the voice-recorder function on your smartphone to record your thoughts while you walk. You will be blown away by the quality of your thinking and the clarity of your words
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in twos, or even threes or fours, walking side by side brings freedom to the exchange — freedom of pace, freedom of content — as you soon get the feeling that the universe is listening
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as the author of the article suggests, walking will also offer your eyes ideas for metaphors that will help you structure your thoughts
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however, holding a meeting while walking is harder, unless you are a very small group
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on the other hand, a short spell of walking can create breathing space in a discussion that has become too intense. Just like a moment of silence you can impose on yourselves in the flow of a meeting, to let the ideas settle.
Meeting while walking. I have my doubts …
On the other hand, I do recommend you experiment with walking to think, or walking to talk … Some fine ideas will emerge.
