Death By Meeting

Patrick Lencioni’s Death by Meeting confronts one of the most despised rituals in modern business life: the meeting. Employees across industries complain that meetings are too long, boring, and pointless—yet no organization can function without them. Meetings are where strategies are debated, priorities set, and relationships built. Lencioni calls this the meeting paradox: meetings are simultaneously the most vital and the most frustrating activity in business.

The problem isn’t that we meet too much—it’s that we meet badly. Most meetings lack energy, structure, and emotional engagement. Lencioni argues that meetings should feel as dynamic as a great movie, complete with conflict, tension, and resolution. When run correctly, they become the heartbeat of organizational health, fostering clarity, trust, and progress.

The Fable: Casey McDaniel’s Struggle at Yip Software

The story begins with Casey McDaniel, a former professional golfer turned CEO of Yip Software, a small company that designs sports simulation games. Casey is friendly, visionary, and respected—but his meetings are soul-crushing. Employees dread them because they stretch for hours, wander aimlessly, and rarely lead to clear outcomes. No one argues, but no one cares either.

When Yip is acquired by a large gaming conglomerate, Playsoft, a corporate executive named J.T. starts attending Casey’s leadership meetings. Within minutes, J.T. is dismayed. Team members speak in vague generalities. There’s no debate, no sense of urgency. They discuss marketing and budget issues like disinterested students in a classroom, not people whose livelihoods depend on the outcome.

After the meeting, J.T. delivers brutal feedback: “Your meetings are killing your company.” He warns Casey that unless he fixes his meeting culture, his leadership position could be in jeopardy. For the first time, Casey realizes that his company’s stagnation isn’t due to lack of skill—it’s due to lack of engagement in meetings.

Desperate, Casey turns to his young assistant, Will, who offers an unconventional insight: “Maybe your meetings should be more like movies.” Together, they study what makes a great movie compelling—conflict, emotion, high stakes—and decide to inject those same qualities into meetings.

Within weeks, Yip’s culture transforms. Employees debate fiercely but respectfully. They challenge ideas and defend positions with data. The energy in the room is palpable. When J.T. attends the next meeting, he’s stunned. Casey’s team is alive, passionate, and united. The company starts executing faster and making smarter decisions. Casey not only keeps his job—he becomes a model for how leaders can reinvent their organization by reinventing meetings.

The Root Causes of Bad Meetings

Lencioni identifies three universal problems that plague nearly all meetings:

Most leaders think the solution is shorter or fewer meetings, but Lencioni argues the opposite: more structured, purposeful meetings with built-in conflict and tension are ...