Reading at work: Lencioni's Death by Meeting

One of the nice aspects of working at Sun is that the company subscribes to a number of online libraries. Usually I consult these for overviews and introductions to technologies I use rarely or need to put into context. But occassionally, I’ll read a business book.

This past week, I took two chunks of time out—an evening at home, and a half hour this afternoon—to read Patrick M. Lencioni’s Death by Meeting : A Leadership Fable… About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business. The title is melodramatic from every possible angle, and the main argument is targeted much more to executives and general management teams, but I can see a few aspects that will help in our own technical meetings. The point about the hidden cost of “sneaker networking” as opposed to having an effective meeting hits close to home.

This text is in Sun’s available collection at NetLibrary.