CIA Techniques for Ruining Office Meetings
catch on: to become popular or widely accepted
Everyone knows the CIA is talented at spying, but did you know they also have taught agents how to sabotage office meetings? The following techniques for annoying work colleagues are from a 1944 manual.
- Insist on doing everything through “channels.” Never permit short-cuts to be taken in order to expedite decisions.
- Make “speeches.” Talk as frequently as possible and at great length. Illustrate your “points” by long anecdotes and accounts of personal experiences.
- When possible, refer all matters to committees, for “further study and consideration.”
- Attempt to make the committee as large as possible — never less than five.
- Bring up irrelevant issues as frequently as possible.
- Haggle over precise wordings of communications and resolutions.
- Refer back to matters decided upon at the last meeting and attempt to re-open the question of the advisability of that decision.
Michael Bierut jokes on social media, “The section on how to sabotage business seems to have really caught on far beyond its original purpose?”
Sample sentences
1. The new fashion trend didn’t catch on until a famous celebrity was seen wearing it.
2. The idea of remote work really caught on during the last year.
3. At first, the new policy seemed odd, but it quickly caught on as everyone saw its benefits.
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Post by Michael Beirut on LinkedIn