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Meet
The Meeting Nobody Needed
At some point today, somewhere in the world, forty-seven people are sitting in a conference room for a one-hour meeting that could have been a two-paragraph email. They know this. The person who called the meeting knows this. Nobody says it.
At the same time, somewhere else, two people are exchanging their fourteenth email on a decision that would take four minutes to resolve if they just talked.
Bad meeting culture does not have one failure mode. It has two: too many meetings that should not exist, and too few of the conversations that should.
This skill fixes both.
Meeting Classification
MEETING_TYPES = {
"decision": {
"purpose": "A specific decision must be made before people leave",
"required": "Decision owner, options pre-circulated, clear criteria",
"failure": "Leaving without a decision documented and assigned"
},
"alignment": {
"purpose": "Everyone needs the same understanding of something",
"required": "What specifically needs to be aligned, why async failed",
"failure": "Sharing information that could have been an email"
},
"creative": {
"purpose": "Generate options, ideas, or approaches that require real-time interaction",
"required": "Diverge before converge — all ideas before evaluation",
"failure": "HiPPO effect — highest paid person's opinion dominates early"
},
"relationship": {
"purpose": "Build trust, connection, and shared context that enables future work",
"required": "Intentional structure — this does not happen by accident",
"failure": "Filling with status updates instead of genuine connection"
},
"should_not_exist": {
"status_update": "Use async tools — weekly written update replaces 30 min standup",
"one_way_info": "Record a video or write it — do not call 20 people to read slides",
"FYI_meeting": "If no one needs to say or do anything, it is not a meeting"
}
}The Pre-Meeting System
MEETING_PREPARATION = {
"agenda_design": {
"structure": """
AGENDA_TEMPLATE = {
"title": "Meeting name that states the purpose",
"objective": "One sentence: what will be true after this meeting that is not true before",
"pre_read": "Material people must read BEFORE — not during",
"items": [
{
"topic": "Specific discussion point",
"owner": "Person leading this item",
"time": "Minutes allocated",
"type": "inform | discuss | decide",
"output": "What we need from this item"
}
],
"decisions_needed": "Pre-listed so everyone arrives prepared",
"parking_lot": "Where off-topic items go — not ignored, not derailing"
}
""",
"rules": ["Send agenda minimum 24 hours before",
"No pre-read longer than 10 minutes",
"Last item is always next actions — who does what by when"]
},
"attendee_audit": """
def should_attend(person, meeting):
roles = {
"decider": person.must_approve_outcome,
"contributor": person.has_unique_input_others_lack,
"implementer": person.will_execute_the_decision,
"informed": False # Send the notes — do not attend
}
return any([roles["decider"], roles["contributor"], roles["implementer"]])
# Amazon rule: if two pizzas cannot feed everyone, the meeting is too big
# Optimal decision meeting size: 5-8 people
"""
}Running the Meeting
FACILITATION_FRAMEWORK = {
"opening": {
"first_90_seconds": ["State the objective — not the agenda",
"Confirm decision authority — who can say yes",
"Set the clock — visible timer creates urgency"],
"parking_lot": "Visible place for off-topic items — keeps meeting on track
without making people feel dismissed"
},
"discussion_management": {
"silence_is_data": "Silence after a question means people are thinking — let it breathe",
"dominant_voice": "Thank you for that — let us hear from someone who has not spoken",
"tangent_response": "That is important — let us put it in the parking lot and come back",
"circular_discussion": """
def detect_circular_discussion(transcript):
if same_points_repeated_3_times:
intervene("We are going in circles. Let me name the two positions I am hearing.
[Position A] versus [Position B]. Can we agree on what information
would resolve this?")
"""
},
"decision_making": {
"RAPID_framework": {
"Recommend": "Person who develops the proposal",
"Agree": "Person whose agreement is required",
"Perform": "Person who executes the decision",
"Input": "Person consulted but not blocking",
"Decide": "Single person who makes the final call"
},
"principle": "Every decision needs exactly one Decider. Not consensus. Not majority.
One person who is accountable for the outcome."
},
"closing": {
"last_5_minutes": ["Read back every decision made",
"Confirm every action item: owner + deadline",
"State what will be communicated to people not in the room",
"Rate the meeting 1-5 — one word per person"],
"never_end_without": "Written next actions before people leave the room"
}
}The After-Meeting System
MEETING_NOTES = {
"what_to_capture": {
"decisions": "Every decision with the reasoning — not just what, but why",
"actions": "Owner, task, deadline — three fields, no exceptions",
"parking_lot": "Every item with assigned follow-up owner",
"not_decisions": "Discussion content is optional — decisions and actions are mandatory"
},
"distribution": {
"timing": "Within 2 hours — memory degrades fast",
"audience": "Everyone who attended + everyone who needs to know the outcome",
"format": "Decisions first, then actions, then discussion summary if needed"
},
"accountability": """
def track_actions(action_items):
for action in action_items:
if approaching_deadline(action) and not complete(action):
send_reminder(action.owner, days_before=2)
if past_deadline(action) and not complete(action):
escalate_to_meeting_organizer(action)
"""
}Fixing Meeting Culture
CULTURE_FIX = {
"audit_first": """
def meeting_audit(calendar):
for meeting in calendar.recurring:
evaluate({
"last_cancellation_missed": was it missed when cancelled,
"output_per_session": what is produced each time,
"could_be_async": would Loom or doc work instead,
"attendee_engagement": do people actually contribute
})
kill_or_redesign(meetings_failing_audit)
""",
"principles": ["Default to async — meetings are the expensive option",
"Protect deep work blocks — no meeting before 10am or after 3pm (example)",
"Meeting-free day per week — Wednesday is common",
"No meeting without agenda — if you cannot write the objective, cancel it",
"Standing meetings get audited quarterly — most should die eventually"]
}Quality Check Before Delivering
- [ ] Meeting type identified — decision, alignment, creative, or relationship
- [ ] Agenda has a single stated objective not just a list of topics
- [ ] Attendee list audited — no passengers
- [ ] Decision authority identified if decision meeting
- [ ] Action item format includes owner and deadline
- [ ] Meeting notes distributed within 2 hours
- [ ] Recurring meetings flagged for audit if culture question raised