Reclaim the War Tent
Your staff meeting is a historical accident that became bureaucratic theater. Here’s how to restore its original, high-stakes purpose.
We’ve all been there, that regular staff meeting that we’re not clear on the point of and therefore we just dread. Nevertheless, we attend, sit attentively, and, when it’s our turn, share one to three things that we are working on or that are going on in our department. Once again, the value? Unclear.
I’ve even worked in places where the general manager treated the staff meeting as their own church service, using the time to preach. It wasn’t coordination, it was performance.
But does it have to be that way?
From Necessity to Bureaucratic Theater
First, a history lesson. Picture this: It's 1863, and General Ulysses S. Grant is huddled with his officers around a map-covered table, coordinating the siege of Vicksburg. Each commander reports on their position, resources, and intelligence. Lives depend on everyone understanding the plan and their role in executing it.
Fast-forward sixty years, and a former cavalry officer turned factory supervisor is applying the same logic to manufacturing. If military units needed regular coordination to avoid catastrophe, surely a growing industrial operation needed the same systematic communication. The weekly staff meeting was born, not from inspiration, but from necessity.
This wasn't an accident. The Industrial Revolution was pulling military veterans into civilian leadership roles just as companies were scaling beyond what any single person could manage. Frederick Winslow Taylor was preaching "scientific management," while Henri Fayol was developing his management principles in France. Both argued that coordination wasn't just helpful; it was essential to organizational survival.
By the 1920s, corporate giants like General Motors and IBM had turned the staff meeting into standard operating procedure. It was a reasonable solution to a real problem: How do you keep thousands of people working toward the same goals?
Then came the consultants. Starting in the 1960s, firms like McKinsey took what had been pragmatic coordination and turned it into formal methodology. The staff meeting became not just a tool, but a ritual, complete with prescribed formats and mandatory attendance.
Here's where the story takes a turn. What began as a military necessity gradually morphed into something else entirely: bureaucratic theater. The meeting that once served a clear purpose—synchronizing action under pressure—became a weekly performance where status was displayed, territory was defended, and actual coordination often took a backseat to organizational politics.
The Anatomy of a Failed Meeting
This is the tension at the heart of every staff meeting today. Are we gathering to coordinate essential work, or are we going through the motions?
Consultant Ted Skinner of Rhythm Systems breaks down the common failures:
Before the Meeting: Agendas are disconnected grocery lists. Teams show up cold, expecting to be briefed rather than to contribute.
During the Meeting: People dance around problems instead of solving them. Time is wasted on updates that could have been an email, while hard decisions get rushed.
The Accountability Gap: Uncomfortable facts get acknowledged and then ignored. Momentum is lost and is nearly impossible to recover.
So how do we fix this? It’s about returning to the original purpose. It’s time to reclaim the war tent.
A Better Path: Purpose + Praise
The fix isn’t a new app. It’s about reclaiming the original purpose—and pairing it with recognition.
Celebrating wins is non-negotiable. But instead of tacking praise awkwardly onto the end of a tactical agenda, give it its own moment at the top. A high-energy opening where people feel seen and valued resets the tone. It reminds everyone why they’re there: to succeed together.
Then, move into the real work.
Three Steps to Reclaim Your Meetings
1. Re-establish "Commander's Intent"
General Grant’s meetings had a crystal-clear purpose: win the siege of Vicksburg. Today’s meetings need the same clarity. Before scheduling anything, the organizer must answer one question in a single sentence: "By the end of this meeting, we will have..."
"...decided on the Q4 marketing budget." (A Decision Meeting)
"...generated ideas for the new product name." (A Brainstorming Meeting)
"...ensured every department understands their role in the launch." (An Alignment Meeting)
A crucial warning here: establishing a clear intent is not a license for a one-person show. As educator Steve Bollar ("Stand Tall Steve") puts it:
Many meetings feel like the leader talks endlessly while everyone else sits in silence.
The "Commander's Intent" is the opposite. It is the leader's job to define the what and the why, but it is the team's job to wrestle with the how. The leader’s role shifts from a speaker to a facilitator.
2. Shift from Status Reports to Intelligence Briefings
Grant's officers weren't just "sharing what they were working on." They were providing critical intelligence. This means declaring the official death of the "around the horn" update, where each person recites their to-do list while everyone else half-listens.
Updates belong in writing, circulated as mandatory pre-reading. The precious time spent together is reserved for discussing the implications of that information. The conversation shifts from "Here is what I am doing" to "Based on the pre-read, the launch date is at risk. We need to decide how to respond." This transforms attendees from a passive audience into an active council of war.
3. Enforce Accountability Like It Matters
In a military campaign, a dropped ball is a catastrophe. In business, it's a slow drain of momentum. The antidote is rigorous accountability. End every meeting with a clear "Who, What, and When."
Every action item must be assigned to a single owner, not a team. Every item must have a publicly stated deadline. The first item on the next meeting's agenda must be a two-minute review of these commitments. This closes the accountability gap and turns the meeting into an engine for progress.
The difference between Grant's war tent and a soul-crushing weekly meeting isn’t the coffee. It’s purpose. Reclaim that, and you’ll reclaim your team’s time—and their trust.
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