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

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The point here is to get into the habit of reviewing progress relating to key metrics for success, but not every metric available. Casey McDaniel, the founder and CEO of Yip Software, is in the midst of a problem he created, but one he doesn't know how to solve.

Through his engaging storytelling and insightful analysis, Lencioni offers valuable guidance for leaders and teams to transform their meetings into meaningful and impactful gatherings. The framework is helpful and a good reminder though to step up one’s leadership game to keep it up to date and relevant. Best-selling author Patrick Lencioni's three previous business fables have sold nearly 350,000 copies. To make our meetings more effective, we need to have multiple types of meetings, and clearly distinguish between the various purposes, formats, and timing of those meetings.The first is the concept of “mining for conflict” to create engagement, passion and improve decision making and results. At the start of the meeting, a leader may announce that the topic is expected to drive conflict, and that meeting members are encouraged to debate and challenge one another. The team chooses the agenda by identifying the tactical issues that need to be addressed to ensure the completion of short-term tasks and goals and clarify procedures, duties, or questions. The new meeting formats incorporate human drama in the form of constructive arguments, challenging decisions, and robust debates, injecting life into what was once a monotonous routine.

The key is to set up the plot form the outside (participants need to understand and appreciate what is at stake). I read this book in 1989, and it was a fantastic launch pad for my transition into a professional career.Lencioni introduces us to the founder and CEO of a Software company who is considered to be fairly successful and yet, attendees at his weekly executive staff meetings would not describe him or the meetings he conducts in a positive way. The Dominant (D) style is the Eagle, Interactive/Influencing (I) style is the Parrot, Supportive/Steady (S) style is the Dove and Compliant/Conscientious (C) style is the Owl.

While being flexible, the leader must be firm, steer the company in the right direction by weighing the industry trends against company goals, face sticky situations instead of brushing them under the carpet, and encourage healthy debates and conflict. Unfortunately, the reality is that one third of more than 11 million meetings held each day are considered unproductive! So let’s dive into this issue with a sense of urgency and focus, because I certainly want to make sure that we’re using the resources in the way our investors and shareholders intended. As the leader of the meeting, it behooves you to ensure that you set up the meeting within the first 10 minutes such that your team understands and appreciates what is at stake.

He suggests starting with the lightning round, where each individual has one minute, no more, to share their two or three priorities for the week, along with a progress report of four or five analytical metrics that review the progress of the team goals. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. They may evaluate the strength of their own team, or the strength of their organization with a personnel review. I would have preferred a little more of the ‘Fast Forward’ (non-fiction) at the end with the theories. Patrick Lencioni is a New York Times best-selling author, speaker, consultant and founder and president of The Table Group, a firm dedicated to helping organizations become healthy.