Google's 50-Minute Meeting Fiasco: Good Intentions, Bad Results?

In 2011, Larry Page, newly appointed Google CEO, aimed to tackle efficiency issues stemming from the company's rapid growth. He implemented a "more wood behind fewer arrows" strategy and attempted to reform meeting culture by shortening hour-long meetings to 50 minutes. However, this sparked an unexpected chain reaction: employees began booking 10-minute meetings to utilize the remaining 10 minutes of each hour, leading to comical 'meeting room wars'. This anecdote highlights how even well-intentioned reforms, lacking thorough consideration, can backfire, causing chaos and employee frustration.