I Hate Meetings - Michael Lopp - Palantir

A bad meeting = Nth discussion on the same topic and no one owning the decision.

books by Michael

Bored people quit - that's what they do.

You are (at most) three years away from building something new. Look at resumes you'll see that people do this.

Irrelevancy is always just around the corner. And shows up usually when you're happiest.

Meetings exist to scale communication and to try to keep track of what might be about to go off the rails.

The process for making something happen = idea -> analysis -> execution
This process happens all in your head when it's just you. When it's two people you need to discuss it and sometimes it takes debate. What this is is a meeting.

The first meeting = it's not just you, together working to solve a problem, in a finite amount of time, and done as needed

All ideas get better with more eyeballs.

But now we have 30 people, not just two. Ideas are coming from every which way. Rapid and organic error correction. Low cost situation awareness. The most random shit becomes culture. Everyone knows everything and does everything.

This first round of 30 people represent the Old Guard. They don't write anything down and keep everything in their heads. They will likely have disproportionate power. Their instincts say that everything they learned at this size will work at a larger size. They run meetings based pretty much on the "first meeting" rule.

Now the company is larger and has 300 people. The company is working. Ideas are still showing up but there's lots of them, decisions are happening slower because it's hard to get input from everyone, and execution is now becoming stove piped. People are a little sad because they used to get to do everything put now roles are solidifying. Stories are retold and becoming myth. Situational awareness is now expensive. Increasing communication friction. Learning can no longer occur via osmosis (a clue to this is when people ask for a wiki). The New Guard is now here. It's stranger town.

The Old Guard can handle problems and fix things based on their political knowledge. They keep doing things the old way but this is where things go off the rails. The issue is that groups of people do not communicate at scale. We think we do, but we don't. The Old Guard just talks to the right people and things get done.

In this setup the Old Guard has no ability to anticipate problems because communication isn't scaling. Then inevitably something bad happens and someone says we should meet.

Meetings go viral when: the perceived value of the meeting goes up, it begins to seen as the only hammer available, and certain people are really good at running a meeting (they are meeting infectors and it is in their interest to exploit this talent).

The Mutated Meeting = Random people who aren't contributing, a lack of agenda, that doesn't respect attendee's time, that goes on forever and ever

Apple called people out of meetings who didn't contribute. And noise didn't count, it had to be signal.

What you need is consistent useful communication in all directions. There are three essential and good meetings that avoid things going off the rails. Preventative maintenance meetings avoid stuff exploding. The reward is silence which does take the fun out of saving the world when the sky is falling.

The one to one meeting
 the update meeting = every week, no matter what, 30 minutes at least (when you skip it trust erodes). Cheat sheet - three prepared points, a performance review, the supervisor's current disaster. The topic should be what you care about. Assume someone has something to teach you in the one on one
 the vent meeting = just nod and listen (don't get sucked in or commiserate, but lend an ear)
 the disaster = you don't want to have this
  
    
Staff meeting - every week (early), no matter what, 30 minutes (at least)
Dashboard: At apple there is the ET which is about everything going on in the company. It sets the tempo for what will happen next week. It handles the state of business
Special guest meeting: information from others and there is serendipity where you learn more
Tapestry meeting - frequently, not just when it's on fire, possibly over poker
        trying to build improbable relationships, culture, to get people to bond
        serendipity focus

All other meetings except those above need an expiration date. Never have it recur forever. You need an expiration date.

Success is (confusingly) silent. These 3 types of meetings are a way to nip problems in the bud. You should find out who is bored and who needs honest feedback.

You can only manage 3 - 7 people. Beyond that someone is suffering.

Meetings should frequently justify themselves. Vote with your feet on whether a meeting is important. Prune aggressively and get rid of unnecessary meetings.