Meeting Resistance

Most people in business are familiar with meetings. But let’s be specific: they’re familiar with reporting meetings - those calendar fillers where the aim is survival. These sessions tend to follow a predictable pattern: updates are polished to deflect criticism, problems are presented without clear ownership, and successes are occasionally claimed by the person with the strongest voice, not the original idea.

These are not environments where innovation thrives.

And yet, when organisations decide they want to be more innovative, they often expect it to happen inside the same meeting culture that has rewarded evasion and blame. That doesn’t work. The behaviours that dominate reporting meetings - defensiveness, self-protection, and one-upmanship - are the very things that kill creative collaboration.

Innovation requires a very different mindset. It flourishes in spaces where people can think aloud, take risks, and build on one another’s ideas without fear of looking foolish or being undercut. It demands openness, humility, and a willingness to listen. Not just to respond, but to be changed by what we hear.

Interestingly, younger generations often find this easier. Having grown up in more collaborative and less hierarchical environments, including schools, universities, and digital spaces, Gen Z and Millennials are often more comfortable with fluid thinking, shared credit, and inclusive ideation. They’ve been conditioned to crowdsource, remix, and adapt ideas quickly. Unlike their older colleagues, they’re less invested in being right and more interested in being relevant. That’s a huge advantage … if leaders are prepared to value it.

But here’s the catch: people can’t switch into “innovation mode” on command. If they’ve been trained by years of reporting meetings to withhold, posture, and protect, those behaviours become default. So, when a meeting suddenly shifts and asks for vulnerability, it’s not surprising that resistance appears.

The answer is to be explicit about the difference. Leaders must redesign how meetings are framed and facilitated. That might mean introducing new ground rules: no interruptions, no idea-shooting, and an emphasis on “yes, and…” contributions. It might mean mixing seniority levels to loosen the grip of hierarchy. Most of all, it means modelling the right behaviour: listening more, giving credit freely, and inviting alternative views.

Meetings culture shapes organisational culture. If we want innovation to thrive, we must stop expecting it to emerge in rooms built for performance, not for possibility. That means rethinking how we gather; how we speak; and how we respond.

Innovation begins when meeting habits change.