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Steven Claes – The A+ Introvert - I stopped talking in meetings

Steven Claes – The A+ Introvert - I stopped talking in meetings

(Best decision I ever made)

Steven Claes
October 04, 2025 • Reading Time: 7 minutes

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The meeting was brutal.

Same three people. Same loud voices. Same circular arguments about Option A versus Option B.

I sat there feeling that familiar dread.

You know the one. When you have the answer but can't find the opening. When every attempt to speak gets talked over. When you leave thinking "I should have said something" (Link).

For years, I tried to fix this by talking more.

Louder voice. Faster interruptions. More forceful opinions.

It never worked. I just felt drained.

Then, something shifted.

Same room. Same loud voices. Same A versus B debate going nowhere.

But this time, instead of jumping in, I opened my laptop.

I wrote six lines.

Then I turned my screen toward the table.

The room went quiet.

People read.

Two missing facts surfaced within minutes.

At 3:58 PM we had our answer.
At 4:00 PM we moved forward.

I barely spoke. But I made the path clear.

That's what introverts do best.

We don't need to be the loudest voice.

We need to be the clearest signal — especially when fragmented, always-on days make real focus harder (Link).

A quote by Leonardo da Vinci on a dark background

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📊 Why Our Way Works Better

Think about how decision meetings usually go wrong.

Everyone talks at once. Facts get buried under opinions. The loudest voice wins, not the best idea.

But introverts process differently.

We see the full picture.

We notice what's missing.

We think before we speak.

Amazon figured this out. They start meetings with 6 minutes of silent reading. Everyone reads the same brief. Then they discuss.

Result? 67% shorter meetings. Better decisions. Less drama.

Jeff Bezos calls this "disagree and commit." But first, everyone has to actually understand what they're disagreeing about (Link).

We're built for this. We just need to own it.

The PICK Method

I tested this with 8 introvert managers. All of them saw faster decisions within two weeks.

Step	What to do	Why it helps
P — Put It on Paper	^{Write the choice in one sentence. "Do we pick A or B?" Not three options. Two.}	^{More than two creates analysis paralysis.}
I — Identify What Matters	^{List three things that matter most. Customer impact. This month's workload. Risk if we're wrong.}	^{Shared criteria stop circular arguments.}
C — Capture the Facts	^{Write what we know. What we don't know. What we can test quickly.}	^{Opinions get loud. Facts stay quiet and clear.}
K — Keep It Moving	^{Set the deadline. Name who decides. Write one line why.}	^{Momentum beats perfection every time.}

The magic happens when you turn your screen. People stop talking and start thinking.

Just like we do naturally.

The PICK Method explained on a light background

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📚 Your Silent Decision Toolkit

Resource	What It Is	Why You Need It
📱^{The One-Screen Brief}	^{Figma Decision Tree (free template)} ⁽^Link⁾	^{My exact format that stopped 90% of circular meetings.}
📖^{The Book That Nailed It}	^{Thinking in Bets (Annie Duke)}⁽^Link⁾	^{Skip to Chapter 3 for the outcome vs process framework that ends decision regret.}
🎥^{Making Hard Choices}	^{Ruth Chang — “How to make hard choices” (TED)}⁽^Link⁾	^{A crisp, values-first way to decide when A vs. B isn’t obvious—perfect for introverts who prefer clarity over volume.}

Resource

What It Is

Why You Need It

📱^{The One-Screen Brief}

^{Figma Decision Tree (free template)} ⁽^Link⁾

^{My exact format that stopped 90% of circular meetings.}

📖^{The Book That Nailed It}

^{Thinking in Bets (Annie Duke)}⁽^Link⁾

^{Skip to Chapter 3 for the outcome vs process framework that ends decision regret.}

🎥^{Making Hard Choices}

^{Ruth Chang — “How to make hard choices” (TED)}⁽^Link⁾

^{A crisp, values-first way to decide when A vs. B isn’t obvious—perfect for introverts who prefer clarity over volume.}

🚀 This Week’s Challenge

Don't overthink this. Pick your next stuck decision.

Today: Write your PICK brief. One screen. Share it before you speak.

Tomorrow: Set the deadline. Name the decider. Stop the debate.

Day 3: Notice what happened. Did people think clearer? Did you feel less drained?

Duotone photo of a lady writing in a journal

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💡 Next Week

How to set office hours without looking antisocial

(Spoiler: It's about being available, not always available)

🎯 Real Talk

Some people won't like this at first.

They'll miss the old debate. The back-and-forth. The verbal processing.

Let them adjust.

Your results will speak louder than any argument.

And you'll walk out of meetings with energy left for what matters.

Keep it steady,
— Steven

P.S. Know a manager trapped in meeting hell? Send them this. Their calendar will thank you.

P.P.S. Want more tips for introvert-friendly ways to work? Click here to connect with me directly.

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