Customer Reviews

Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(45)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

His previous book, "Five Disfunctions..." is by far the best work Lencioni has written to date, so "Death By Meeting" had quite a challenge to match when it came out. Although it falls a little short, still it accomplishes a task that cannot be diminished: it shows executives (and managers at large, I'd argue) how to make meetings more effective for once, and (are you ready for this?) he advocates for more, not less, meetings, in order to enhance the performance of companies and positively impact the lives of those who work in them.

The book, like his previous ones, is cleverly structured in two large parts: The Fable and The Model. The first part lays out a sort of novel, where the characters could pretty much be you and me, taking part in management meetings in our own companies, and tells the story of how implementing his methodology (brought about by a "consultant in disguise", impersonated by the CEO's personal assistant) helped put the company's steering team out of its meeting "misery", by turning their meetings into a satisfactory and productive experience that they started looking forward to from then on.

The second part summarizes the methodology presented in The Fable, in a more general context, by introducing the four types of meeting he advocates:
-Daily Check-In
-Weekly Tactical
-Monthly Strategic (or Ad Hoc Strategic)
-Quarterly Off-site Review

Even if you think you are effective at managing your meetings, I highly recommend that you give "Death By Meeting" a read. It won't take more than 2 hours of your time, and it will provide you and your team with benefits to reap for life. Disregard at your own managerial risk!

If you dwell in the all too common world of unproductive meetings -- which I'd hazard to guess is at least a 50/50 chance -- this book is well worth a look. Consistent with his "business fable" style, Lencioni makes "Death by Meeting" a quick read with some easy to grasp but powerful principles as the payoff.

How many time's have you heard the term, "I can't get anything done because I'm always in meetings." Sounds logical right? Not so, says Lencioni. He precedes to show us through his fable that what's needed is a paradigm shift on how we think about meetings. Meetings aren't problems, they are opporturnities. Meetings don't have to be a death walk, they can inspire, challenge, and bring problems out in the open to be wrestled to the ground and resolved.

In my view, the power of Lencioni's principles are in their simplicity. How many times have you waded through a business book and found yourself inspired only to forget half the of 20 "principles" and so called recipes for success. Lencioni's principles are simple enough that they are both easily grasped and memorable.

The challenge for readers of "Death by Meeting" teachings is that Lencioni provides little beyond the basic framework. He gives few suggestions for implementation, and does not warn of pitfalls or discuss the implications of company culture and barriers that might arise. His message is in affect, here's the framework -- now get to it.

That's a tough pill to swallow for readers who find very few similarities between the company and the leaders depicted in the story and their own situation. But I'd argue that this isn't a valid excuse to let the book gather dust on the shelf. Those who go forward boldly may soon find that they'll create their own fable with a happy ending.

The title is provocative and will probably sell books. The parable of a software game firm in Monterey struggling with ineffective meetings makes for a reasonably readable, well-scripted (except for "our data is inconclusive." p. 184) and intriguing story. "Death" has the air of "Disclosure" without the sex, as Yip Software allows itself to be taken over (cashing in -- a decision that probably warrants more attention than do the other matters in the book) and then scrutinized by a bigger firm. There is a late twist in the seemingly diabolic machinations of the larger firm and the catalyst to the correction in team decision making is imbued with a needless obsessive-compulsive, Tourette-like malady that allows him to have a psychological excuse -- when he is off his meds - to speak up at the meetings.

The parable reads well enough and early on reminded me of John Cleese's marvelous training film, "Meetings, bloody meetings." The original video was so good when it was made almost thirty years ago that Video Arts updated it -- with almost the exact same script and several of the same actors-- ten years ago. "Death" is more current. But Cleese in both versions got it right, better, and funnier than Lencioni. He viewed team meetings as akin to a court proceeding or a trial. The analogy worked.

Effective meetings need critical thinking, not groupthink. The Senate report on the CIA is only the most recent example of no one taking a critical stance as partial information and unreliable data accumulate. But conflict does not seem to be the appropriate remedy for premature or inappropriate consensus. Lencioni is right: Real consensus is difficult if not impossible. But constructive critical thinking is better than conflict (or obsessives off their meds) to make a meeting effective and "interesting". Getting people to feel passionate about their work and their firm is important yet passion does not come from interesting meetings, picnics or stock vesting plans. The passion needs to come from somewhere else.

Cleese's film emphasizes the need to prepare and inform in a way that Lencioni apparently rejects for weekly "tactical" meetings: No agenda, says Lencioni. Lencioni uses an imaginative Holloywood metaphor to illustrate different types of meetings -- there are sitcoms, movies and miniseries parallels for meetings -- but this doesn't really work out for me in the end. The parable comes to an abrupt end and then Lencioni moves to a more formal, structured teaching style and my interest that had been waning disappeared.

I prefer "Death by chocolate" myself.

I am ashamed to admit that as a leader I dread meetings. But, as Patrick Lencioni puts it in his newest book, Death by Meeting, meetings are the most important aspect of a leader's job. Thankfully, he provides a cure for bad meetings in this fascinating tale as he hones in on a specific meeting structure (Daily Check-in, Weekly Tactical, Monthly Strategic and
Quarterly Off-site Review) that is sure to make a difference in my organization.

In "Death by Meeting" Patrick Lencioni uses a novel to introduce a model that turns the meeting albatross into the catalyst for organizational success. The book is a quality follow-up to Lencioni's exceptional business novel "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team". It focuses on conducting meetings with unfiltered conflict and a passionate debate of ideas. He contends that the same elements of conflict that engage us in a movie are the keys to an interesting and productive meeting.

"Death by Meeting" is easy to read, entertaining, practical, and helpful. I found the characters interesting and the story enjoyable. If you lead an organization where meetings are seen as a necessary evil, you should invest in "Death by Meeting." A great resource for learning the model and implementing the book can be found at Lencioni's company website - http://www.tablegroup.com/our_books/death_by_meeting.php.

The fact that most executives hate meeting is truly ironic as they are THE central activity in business. This book cleverly points out that if you are having bad meeting, you are likely making bad decisions. Lencioni's vivid fiction reveals his simple but slightly contrarian view of meetings. I have
already started to use the meeting structure with my clients. Thanks again Mr. Lencioni.

Both the format and the content of this book made it highly enjoyable. Normally, even reading about meetings is enough to put me to sleep, but this book has a great running story about introducing change to the meetings of an executive team. By the end of the book, the author has some excellent specific tips on the types of meetings to call, how often to call them, and what to expect to get from them. As he points out, the impact meeting effectiveness has on team morale can't be overstated.

The only thing I might ding the book on is that it's really about the meetings that high-level folks have, and the practical advice is somewhat less applicable to minion-type people. For instance, while the different types of meetings make sense, the frequencies don't -- I would argue that his "quarterly off-site reviews" are better translated as "end of milestone reviews" the "monthly strategic"s are completely transformed because people at a lower level usually only own a few issues at a given time, so it makes more sense for all of those meetings to be ad-hoc and around closing a single topic rather than being regular and on the most important bubbled-up topics of the day.

Still, a very valuable book and well worth an afternoon's read, even by low-level developer types like myself.

I read this book skeptically -- but discovered it was really useful besides being totally well written and entertaining. I think the way the author presents this picture is simple - but not simplistic -- much like the author's other books. Most people do work in situations where there are certainly personality issues (which he tackles in the Teams book) but even with those under control meetings themselves are sorely lacking in tapping into the best people have to offer. This book helps you really get at this. Its great -- and from my experience definitely needed.

Pat's new book, "Death by Meeting" is GREAT. We have been using his common sense approach to meetings, and it is transforming our company. Our senior team is much more engaged and committed to our strategy and its execution. Clear communication is flowing throughout the company. Thanks for sharing your brilliance.

Patrick Cox, CEO - Qsent, Inc.

This is one of the better business books I have read for a few reasons. 1) It is a quick read. 2) It is an enjoyable read. 3) It touches a subject that applies to almost all of us. 4) It gives easy and implementable suggestions.

It doesn't provide a PH.D. degree in meetings, but no business books do. As all books are giving you a push in the right direction, I believe that Patrick M. Lencioni is a champion in pushing hard, if not tackling us in the right direction.

Also read his other books in this series. They are all great "one-flight" reads.