Death by Meeting

raise your hand if you enjoy your organization’s meetings. if your hand is in the air, congratulations – you’re one of the rare few! for the rest of us, meetings frequently feel like redundant rituals that sap both our time and energy and rank among the most disliked activities at work. 

yet despite these underwhelming experiences, meetings hold immense potential to drive progress, spark innovation, and bring people together – if they’re approached correctly. with the right mindset, a clear structure, and a willingness to embrace conflict, they can catalyze engagement and collaboration. 

in the first half of this chapter, you’ll learn how a fictional executive team was pushed to rethink their stale meeting routine, the moment of insight that transformed their approach, the dramatic spark that kept participants invested, and the structured framework that ensured every session served a distinct purpose. then, in the second half, you’ll discover how to apply these ideas yourself, turning any meeting into a high-energy forum where decisions get made and people walk away feeling motivated. 

ready to take your organization’s most important conversations to the next level? let’s dive in. 

casey mcdaniel grew up caddying on the pristine golf courses of carmel, california, dreaming of turning his passion for the game into a pro career. armed with a golf scholarship and a knack for computers, he left for college, studying engineering while becoming a standout in his conference’s golf circuit. just when he was on the verge of breaking into the big league, a persistent case of muscle spasms called the “yips” ended his career.

disappointed but undeterred, casey returned home, got married, started a family, and used his remaining tournament earnings to hire two programmers to build what he hoped would be the most realistic golf simulation video game imaginable.

within two years, casey’s fledgling venture, yip software, had released a golfing game so lifelike that its popularity soared across pro shops nationwide. over the next eight years, casey scaled up by hiring more staff, moving into larger offices, and crafting additional sports titles. the local community admired him for creating compelling professional opportunities in an otherwise laid-back town. yet those closest to the business quietly noted that something about his leadership fell short – casey’s charm and creativity were undeniable, but a sharper focus might have propelled the company to even greater heights.

employees sensed a growing complacency in everyday operations, perhaps best demonstrated by their lackluster – to put it politely – staff meetings. even the newly appointed chief of human resources was thrown by the general apathy toward the organization’s mission. for a tech firm producing such cutting-edge games, the absence of genuine excitement was perplexing. so, in a bid to jolt everyone’s spirits, casey mcdaniel did something he’d never imagined doing: announcing at the company’s tenth-anniversary party that they’d go public, hoping that an infusion of capital would spark momentum.

a few weeks of half-hearted planning for the ipo ended abruptly when playsoft, one of the nation’s premier gaming corporations, dangled an acquisition offer that seemed almost too generous to refuse. the deal closed faster than anyone expected, and yip software employees rejoiced as they received stock in the acquiring firm.

unfortunately, their excitement quickly evaporated when the market took a steep tumble, and that precious stock value plummeted. but things would only go from bad to worse for casey when one of playsoft’s executives came to sit in on a weekly team meeting. this executive, the notorious j. t. harrison, pulled no punches in calling casey out on the astounding lack of enthusiasm and direction he’d displayed in the two-hour meeting. harrison hinted that he’d be back to observe another team meeting in a few weeks, casting serious doubt on whether casey was the right person to run the very company he’d founded.

blindsided, casey confided in his assistant, will, that the new leadership might be eyeing his job. with pressure mounting from every side, casey knew that his next steps needed to kindle the workplace spark – or confirm the doubts of those who believed he was out of his depth.

realizing his boss was on the verge of losing everything, casey’s loyal assistant resolved not to let that happen without a fight. determined to discover just what made yip software’s meetings so bad, will slipped into every staff gathering he could find, quietly noting how they dragged on without even a semblance of vigor. his colleagues often seemed bored or distracted, and issues seldom reached a satisfying conclusion. this pattern confirmed will’s worst suspicions: the dull, meandering nature of these meetings was a critical threat to his boss’s future at the company.

one evening, hoping to clear his head, will visited his parents’ house to watch a movie. glancing at the running time on the dvd case, he realized the entire narrative arc of the film had taken less time than one of those weekly meetings that never resolved anything. feeling he was onto something, will spent the night poring over old screenwriting textbooks from his school days. as the sun rose, he felt a surge of inspiration. he saw that filmmakers have a proven formula for holding an audience’s attention: inject conflict early and clearly define the structure – two elements nowhere to be found in yip software’s routine gatherings.

over the following weeks, will immersed himself in the company’s meeting culture, documenting the absence of any real drama in discussions and the lack of context-specific structure. by night, he refined his ideas and tested new approaches, shaping them into a workable method he hoped could save his boss.

when will finally pitched his working theory to casey and the executive team, he was initially met with resistance. after all, he was proposing having more meetings – albeit of distinct formats and lengths – and that conflict needed to be an essential ingredient.

as the high-stakes return visit of j. t. harrison got closer, the mood among the leadership team was tense. they recognized they had only one chance to prove they could run an engaging, productive meeting. placing their trust in casey’s devoted assistant, they reluctantly agreed to test-drive will’s newly devised tactics. and by the day of harrison’s visit, the executive team had become adept at specifying each meeting’s purpose and openly inviting debate within it. this burst of energy quickly traveled beyond the conference room walls, too – and soon, the kindling of employee engagement became palpable.

days after harrison’s second sit-in, casey received the email he thought would announce his future at his own company. to his surprise, however, playsoft’s owner was emailing him to reveal that j. t. would be stepping into the ceo role and, in preparation, had secretly been tasked to shake things up in the parent company’s various divisions.

casey would keep his job, the company he loved, and, crucially, the meeting routine he’d come to adopt in desperation over the preceding weeks. in doing so, yip software was well on its way to unlocking the potential it had always held but never manifested. 

you may be intimately familiar with the type of meetings casey’s team had surrendered to enduring: the meetings that feel like a complete time drain, even though the subject matter is critical. one major culprit, as will astutely identified, is the lack of conflict. when meetings lack constructive tension, they quickly become monotonous and meaningless, leaving everyone disengaged and frustrated. 

conflict is the fuel that powers engaging human interaction. screenwriters have long understood that nobody will care much for a story if there’s no drama on screen. the same holds true around a conference table. when you and your team commit to embracing disagreement and healthy debate, you can stay dialed in because you’re active participants, not passive bystanders. you more readily recognize that weighty decisions hang in the balance – ones that affect not only your workload but also your organization’s direction.

unfortunately, many leaders instinctively steer clear of letting tension surface, fearing it might hurt morale. ironically, this avoidance makes discussions dull and leaves problems unresolved. highlighting opposing viewpoints can spark transformative ideas, and the resulting friction often paves the way for real breakthroughs. meeting leaders can stoke the fire by reinforcing how valuable it is for people to speak up, even when opinions clash. though it might be uncomfortable, it’s far better than ignoring issues that will inevitably bubble up later.

energizing these sessions hinges on shining a spotlight on potential conflicts early on so everyone understands what’s at stake. the conversation gains an edge of urgency when you frame the risks of making the wrong call, point out looming threats or competitors, or tap into your team’s overarching purpose. this jolt can turn what would otherwise have been another dry ritual into a dynamic interaction where the most important decisions get made, and the most pressing issues are resolved.

when conflict is harnessed, it can lead to engagement, clarity, and problem-solving. but how do you keep these conversations from devolving into mere drama? the answer lies in adopting structure – which unlocks a powerful one-two punch that can transform your routine get-togethers for good, just as it did within yip software. 

have you ever attended a meeting that felt like a chaotic and confounding blend of budget updates, blue-sky brainstorming, and random asides? that’s precisely what happens when every possible issue is crammed into one long session – and precisely what yip software’s executive team had been doing for years. however, as will highlighted, simply splitting meetings according to their purpose makes participants more likely to stay focused, and each conversation more likely to feel like a meaningful use of everyone’s time and energy. 

a short, daily check-in is perfect for avoiding unnecessary misunderstandings or surprises. standing together for just a couple of minutes each morning and sharing your top priorities can replace endless email chains, cut down on confusion, and keep your team aligned. holding these huddles at the same time and place – and never skipping them, no matter how few attendees there are – helps make them a seamless part of the daily routine.

regular tactical meetings are where short-term challenges get addressed head-on. whether they happen weekly or every other week isn’t as important as sticking to a clear format. for example, a quick round of updates could kick things off, followed by the creation of a real-time agenda based on a select few of the immediate needs. if the discussion veers into bigger-picture terrain, make a note and assign these a topic-specific session to keep the current conversation on track and preserve your momentum.

strategic discussions call for dedicated windows of time. try focusing on just one to three significant issues at a time to foster in-depth debate, spark creativity, and produce informed decision-making. scheduling these deeper dives consistently – at least once a month – ensures there’s always space to address larger concerns, preventing them from derailing your daily or weekly meetings.

quarterly off-site gatherings can take things a step further by stepping away from day-to-day pressures entirely. these “meetings” are an opportunity to review progress, evaluate organizational goals, and explore new directions, all while thinking beyond the usual to-do list. keep the group small to build trust – and consider hiring a skilled external facilitator.

when every meeting has a clear intention and structure, time spent in each transforms from a dreaded obligation into an exciting catalyst for alignment and advancement. a well-structured approach to these sessions isn’t just sensible – it’s a high-return investment in personal and organizational success and well-being. 

in this chapter to death by meeting by patrick m. lencioni, you’ve learned that the solution to the pervasive “meetings problem” isn’t to stop having meetings completely. it’s to make them better. 

the missing spark that leads to real progress is conflict – the healthy, productive sort that surfaces differing views. without conflict, discussions can stagnate, leaving influential ideas unspoken and important issues unresolved. conversely, organizations can energize meetings through structure. clarify what’s at stake, invite debate, and establish distinct formats for each type of discussion: daily huddles for swift updates, tactical sessions for short-term challenges, and focused deep dives for longer-term strategies. 

when a team understands the purpose and structure of each gathering, participants stay engaged – listening and contributing rather than daydreaming or holding back. the result is a charged environment that fosters breakthroughs, encourages candor, and creates a united momentum toward shared goals.

ok, that’s it for this chapter. we hope you enjoyed it. if you can, please take the time to leave us a rating – we always appreciate your feedback. see you soon!