I have grown to hate committees. I have learned that the best committee in the world is the one with only one person. I applaud this wisdom whenever I am lucky enough to hear of it. I have suffered from committee-phobia since I graduated from university some years ago. At the time I was put on a committee which consisted of seasoned bureaucrats, self-styled philosophers and a number of people who talked but never did anything else. We, the members of that committee, held more than 20 meetings at which we discussed all kinds of subjects relative to local, regional and international issues. In the end, our committee recommended the formation of another committee to tackle the same problems.

Since then, whenever I am nominated to a committee, I tend to become a dictator — power-hungry, controlling meetings, voicing opinions and issuing orders as if I am the only one responsible or as if without me, nothing will be accomplished.

Interestingly, none of the other members oppose my attitude nor protest my dictatorship. This may well be due to the habit of many committee members of depending on one individual to run the shop. They feel they are there only to lengthen the time spent in meetings, obstructing any and all solutions or putting their signatures on meaningless documents.

One day I suggested to my supervisor at work that if he wanted things to be done quickly, he should consider forming a committee of one — me.

Many years have passed since that suggestion was made and I understand that now that supervisor appreciates my idea. Like all of us, he has spent a number of years watching in frustration as matters of public interest are passed from one useless committee to another.