Book Review Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable...About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business by Patrick Lincioni

If you have anything to do with meetings and people, read this book. It really doesn't take that long to read and while I am still out on the entire 'fictional story to explain a business concept', this one has stuck with me since I first read the book a few years ago.

This book breaks it down for WHAT you should be expected to bring to each meeting and what you should expect to get out of each meeting. From an organizational perspective, it also has encouraged me to do two major time changing things in my life, a) I will not hold a meeting without publishing an agenda first and then following it up with a notes/action items email and b) I will gladly refuse to attend a meeting without a published agenda. I now recoup about 4-5 hours a week regularly because of this and am starting a behavior pattern that will hopefully improve the organization.

Book Review: The Hamster Revolution

The Hamster revolution by Song, Halsey & Burress

I want to say something good about this book, about how I have taken some of the core concepts to heart or maybe that it inspired me to start writing better emails but I can't. Heck, I would even like to tell you this book (being the 3rd of this kind I have read) was not the one that convinced me I do not need to read any more of these professional improvement books that boarder on manipulating story rather than conversation about the topic.

Here are the details in a nut-shell:

• Lead by example, write better emails and people will follow
• Kindly correct your colleague's emails, make subjects clearer and summarize their points
• Drop the crap, no more 'It would be our department's utmost pleasure to assist you' and other political crap. You know it is crap when you get it, others know the same. Help me be productive or you are really just a barrier towards my goals for the day.
• Provide & encourage private feedback on emails and pre-reading of drafts by an extra set of eyes.

This isn't world changing news, get the rose sunglasses off, realize the people you interact with would rather have things happen properly and efficiently than get their egos stroked. If there is a meeting at 2 PM tomorrow to discuss process improvement in our department that is all you need to say. I do not need to hear the inspirational essay that you want to base the new direction on or the epiphany you had that revealed all things wrong while vacationing with your family in some lake resort town 4 hours away. I need:

2 PM tomorrow we have a brainstorming meeting where we will identify:

1. Hindering processes that prevent us from being the best
   
2. New opportunities to serve our customers
3. Time frames for removal, change or implementation of these new processes.
4. Individual responsibility for driving each of these within the group.

Now onto the story format for professional books.

I can easily appreciate that you need to stand out in the market and being just another boring dead tree with page after page of a)fact b) discussion of fact is not going to get you written up as a breath of fresh air but these are getting goofy. I was with them on the concept of the newly hired executive because I always wondered what went on in those conversations at the top levels of management. I dug the idea of the film student, inspired by his craft, to reshape meetings. (If you do not know what books I am talking about, I will get the reviews out if they are not hear already.) But a stinkin' hamster walks into office? The is more an opening to a sad, politically correct joke to replace the 'A walks into a bar' of my father's generation than a motivational texts opening. Completely ridiculous and screams 'buy me and take me home, I am more than a book to scan at your local Borders while sipping your latte.' I almost want to do the library I borrowed this from a favor and use it to start my next bonfire with it. Three author's and this is the best opening they came up with? I hope your other works are better.