Catch the Moment, Not the Meeting

The insight: You can't force collaboration in formal settings. But when you hear an engineer getting passionate about something, you can jump on that moment and explore it right then.

What this looks like: Brent brings up something in your huddle. Instead of saying "let's schedule time to discuss that," you say "wait, that's worth exploring—can we spend 15 minutes on it right now?"

Why this works:

• •Engineers show their enthusiasm naturally, not on command
• •Formal brainstorming often fails because you're asking people to be creative on schedule
• •When someone is already excited, they're ready to engage deeply
• •The best exploration happens when people are already thinking about the problem

The shift: From "let's schedule a session to brainstorm" to "I see you're excited about this—let's explore it right now before we lose the momentum."