I had this unbelievable insight. The way you design a meeting shapes the behavior of participants. If you design it for democratic values, for collaboration and mutuality in exchange, that what you get. If you design it (or don't design it) in another way, you get discord and conflict and hierarchy. The key is in the meeting facilitator.

When I facilitate meetings, I'm designing a temporary environment in which work gets done. So, I'm really thinking like an architect. When I design an agenda to help an individual see the world in new ways, I'm really thinking like a psychologist. When I design a series of meetings over time to help an organization change its culture, I'm really thinking like an anthropologist.

Winston Churchill said: "We shape our buildings and they in turn shape us.". I'm fond of saying "We shape our meetings, and they in turn shape us."