>>I guess it was not meant to limit the discussion, but rather to focus it. I was replying specifically in regards to the school jokes and the discussion about them. I guess Metin was replying to the subject in general and others. Of course, just about every thread has thread drift these days...
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>>In meetings, the habit of diverting the discussion tends to shift focus and then no decisions are made on the subjects that were meant to be covered. Nothing gets done.
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>There's a difference. I'm regularly attending meetings with my current team, with people from several countries, and any problem that would take us into a side tunnel is still considered, then if we see it would take us too far, scheduled for next time, or solved on the spot if possible. With a purely American team, I noticed a collective, disciplined refusal to talk about anything that wasn't on the agenda. That way nothing gets done on time - before work on it begins, it has to wait for the next meeting.
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>I'm still investigating this, though. Something in the American mind tends to be specific when other cultures go right for the big picture. Not quite sure where and what happens, where's the disconnect. I know that if I'm trying to explain something abstract, it won't work without an example. And if the example isn't completely representative, forget it - the discussion gets bogged in the details of the example, and the abstract idea that the example was about gets completely forgotten. If you remember a discussion I had with Sam few weeks ago... that was a good example (and now let's not get bogged in the details of the example :).

We try that way when a "postponement" or "delay" needed for problems... That's a trick... It's way of lazy workers... Hehehe... I love it. But customers usually don't accept that... :(