Death by Meeting - Book review

Just finished a must-read book by Patrick Lencioni, "Death by Meeting." It's a "business fiction" book where he uses a story to teach principles on how to have productive and engaging meetings. In his consulting work, he has found that most meetings are boring and unproductive - of course I've never experienced that!

Lencioni contends that meetings need 2 things: Drama and Structure. Drama is created as team members are willing to engage in honest conversations, pushing back (respectfully) on statements, direction, etc. It's the healthy conflict in a meeting that helps to drill down to core convictions, beliefs, and leads to solid decisions. After wrestling through the issues, the team makes a decision - and may not be in consensus, but all support the decision once it's made because every team member participated and had the opportunity to give their honest input.

Structure refers to what is covered in your meetings. Most meetings are a hodgepodge of information items, reports, discussions, decisions, planning, etc. Lencioni proposes a Four Meeting method:

1. Daily Check-in: 5 minute stand up meeting each day with your team, where each team member shares what they're working on that day. This helps to keep the team connected and knowing what's going on in the department.
2. Weekly Tactical: 45-90 minute meeting to review weekly activity and metrics, and to resolve tactical obstacles and issues (you'll have to get the book to see how to structure this meeting!).
3. Monthly Strategic: Rather than address directional issues in the weekly meeting, set aside an extended time every month (or schedule ad hoc if there are pressing issues) to focus only on strategy. Limit the meeting to one or two issues and allow 90 min - 2 hrs per issue. Every team member should take time to prepare for this meeting by doing their homework / research.
4. Quarterly Off-site Review: this is where you review strategy, industry trends, personnel, and do team development.

Sound like a lot of meetings? Yes, but in the long run, you'll accomplish far more, have clearer direction, and find that your meetings are more engaging and productive.

To get the full picture, I'd recommend reading the book yourself. I picked up a used copy on Amazon, and with shipping it was under $8. It's an easy read that draws you into the story line while helping you understand key principles of good meetings. The last section of the book summarizes the principles in a "traditional" fashion, so you can refer back to them and implement them with your team.

Happy reading... and happy meetings!

How do you see these principles lived out in a non-profit or church setting?

Satisfied with your progress?

Have you ever met someone who had been a Christian for a long time, but nobody liked being around him or her because they were so cranky? I have. Maybe they faithfully attend church and hear sermons, study the Bible and pray a lot, yet they’re still spiritually immature. They still use their words in a hurtful way, and still think it’s all about them. And if you’ve never met a person like that… look in the mirror because that person just might be you!

Growing as a Christian is a lot like the stages people go through in growing from infancy to adulthood. Every phase has its own set of characteristics, discoveries, joys, and frustrations. If you had a child that never matured physically, emotionally, and mentally past 3 years old, you would be greatly concerned and go see the doctor.  Yet it’s not an unusual thing for a person to be a Christian for a lot of years and still be a spiritual baby.  I don’t think God meant it to be that way!

You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right.  (Hebrews 5:12-13, NLT)

I think that part of the problem is selfish consumerism. Western society has trained us to be savvy consumers – how does the “product” make me feel? Apply consumer thinking to Christianity, and you have a steady flow of people who grow dissatisfied with a church or ministry and move on to the next “product” that makes them feel good. But if we move on every six months or two years, we don’t grow beyond our selfishness. It’s like we remain in spiritual puberty perpetually, trying to figure out who we are, trying to fit in but always feeling like an awkward junior high boy who just had a growth spurt and is breaking out in zits all over his face.

It’s not just a 21^st century dilemma though, 2000 years ago, many of Jesus’ followers turned away from him (John 6:66). When he asked the twelve if they wanted to leave as well, Peter replied,

“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” (v68-69)

Even though the disciples had all sorts of issues and immaturities, eleven of them recognized who Jesus really was and kept following. After spending three years with Jesus, they were ready to carry his Kingdom mission to the world. They weren’t perfect, but had grown closer to him and were available to be used by him.

Here’s a few thoughts on growing beyond selfish consumerism:

1. Choose to keep following Jesus, even when it’s tough; develop spiritual habits that include reading the Word and praying daily. Ask God to shape your character and help you grow.  
2. Follow Jesus in a community of friends (i.e. join a community group where you can be encouraged to keep following and grow beyond selfishness).
3. Get involved in bringing pervasive hope to your neighborhood through a monthly outreach project with your community group.

What have you found to be essential in keeping you on a path of growth and following Jesus?