Good Decisions Start Before the Meeting Begins

Decision-making often doesn’t fail in the room, it fails before the meeting starts because no one agreed what problem they were solving.

Remember when we needed a new pope?

The Conclave was - in many ways - bonkers (not least in entrusting an organisation's most important decision exclusively to celibate, old, largely white males).

But there were still lessons for the rest of us. Before the cardinals voted, they spent some time in what is known as "General Congregations", deciding the key challenges facing the church. i.e. what is the problem to which the new Pope must be the solution.

Then they went into the Sistine Chapel and didn’t come out until they had decided.

In your organisation, you don’t need smoke signals or red robes. But you do need clarity on what you’re trying to decide and why. Many meetings skip this step.

👉 If you want to relive the Conclave, here’s Time Magazine’s guide to how it worked

Take Action

If you’re a leader:

Amazon solve this problem by requiring a meeting to be accompanied by a clear, written (NOT PowerPoint!) paper that describes exactly what the decision is and why it matters. Steal this idea from them.

If you’re a team member:

Unclear from the meeting invitation what the point of the meeting is? Feel free to ask. “How about we get a quick note beforehand on what decision we’re being asked to make - and why it matters?”