← He wanted a proper exchange rather than an endless PowerPoint presentation, some real engagement with the content – and he got it. We are talking about the Chairman of a Frankfurt-based bank, who came up with a new way to entice members of the Executive Board to get more involved in their regular meetings.

He had the six most important slides from his presentation printed out in large format and placed them in the meeting room. Up until then, all eight executive board members would sit in comfortable armchairs and passively watch one slide after another – and he wanted to change this. His goal was to activate himself and his colleagues not only physically, but also mentally because all too often, any discussion was superficial at best. As the board members rose from their armchairs and began to walk from one large-format slide to another, something amazing happened. Without a projected slide on the wall and the hum of the beamer, an atmosphere of calm concentration began to fill the room. People really started to get to grips with the details and there was a buzz of animated conversation. One person even took a pen and drew a circle between two existing decision options with a question mark saying, ‘and there could be a third option’.