TJ Walker says most meetings fail because they lack a clear decision. Before the meeting starts, write one sentence beginning with "Decision:" that states exactly what the group must decide. This forces clarity, sharpens discussion, and makes it easy to end once the decision is reached.
Chapters
Ultimize. Most meetings feel unclear because the outcome is never defined in a way that forces a decision. So here's a practical way to fix that. Before your next meeting, write a single sentence that starts with the word decision. Like, decision: approve the vendor or reject and reopen search. Decision: Launch this feature next week or delay 2 weeks? Decision: Hire one candidate now or continue interviewing? If you can't write that sentence, that meeting is not ready to happen. It's really not ready to happen. I'm not kidding. Notice what this does. It forces, it forces clarity before anyone even joins the meeting. Instead of walking in with some vague general idea, you're walking in with a target. I've seen this with teams where someone like Kavya sends out an invite that says marketing discussion. 10 people join. Everyone shares ideas. The meeting feels active. Everyone felt listened to. Isn't that great? But nothing's resolved. Now compare that to a meeting that starts with one Clear outcome like this decision: choose one campaign to launch this quarter. Now people prepare differently. Someone like Arjun shows up with data comparing the options. Someone like Mira comes ready to argue for one direction, just one direction. The discussion becomes sharper, much sharper. Because it has a purpose. Another important point, the outcome must be something the group can actually control. If you write down something like discuss long-term strategy, well, that's kind of loosey-goosey. There's no clear finish line. But if you write decision, focus on market A or market B for the next quarter. Now, now the group knows exactly what they're trying to resolve. Defining the outcome also makes it easier to end the meeting. Wow, isn't that great when you can end meetings? Because once the decision is made, the meeting's over. You don't need to fill the remaining time. You don't need to keep talking and talking and talking. You achieved the goal. So before every meeting, force yourself to write that one sentence. What exactly will be decided? Yeah. What will actually be decided. If you do that consistently, your meetings will become shorter, clearer, and far more effective.
