Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable . . . About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The first question that needs to be asked and answered about meetings is this: What is the real problem? Actually, there are two.

First, meetings are boring. They are tedious, unengaging, and dry. Even if people had nothing else to do with their time, the monotony of sitting through an uninspired staff meeting, conference call, or two-day off-site would have to rank right up there with the most painful activities of modern business culture. And when we consider that most of the people struggling through those meetings do indeed have other things to do, that pain is only amplified.

Second, and even more important, meetings are ineffective. The most justifiable reason to loathe meetings is that they don't contribute to the success ...