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Make Meetings Matter

Meetings without minutes are parties. Meetings without state changes are mispriced attention.

The Job​

When a team needs to align on decisions, surface friction, or coordinate action across ventures, help them run a structured meeting that produces at least one traceable artifact — a problem identified, a standard proposed, a PRD updated, or a scoreboard metric moved.

Trigger EventCurrent FailureDesired Progress
Team sync neededConversation drifts, no decisions capturedEvery meeting produces a routed state change
New friction surfacedAd-hoc discussion, forgotten by next weekFriction logged as a Problem with owner
Decision requiredAuthority unclear, commitment decays post-meetingDecision recorded with bet, owner, and due date
Creative collisionSerendipity wasted without follow-throughCollision captured and matched to venture opportunity

Collision Algorithm​

The highest-value meetings are creative collisions — unplanned collaborations between people in complementary zones of proximal development. The system should match people who can be each other's MKO (More Knowledgeable Other).

Collision algorithm

Without SystemWith System
Collisions are accidentalCollisions are orchestrated by capability gap
No follow-through on sparksEvery collision logs a friction or opportunity
Same people talk to same peopleZPD matching surfaces complementary pairs
Value of meeting is unmeasuredCollision-to-commitment conversion tracked

Tight Five Agenda​

Every meeting invite must answer these five questions on one screen. If it cannot, it is a party — allowed for culture, forbidden for decisions.

#QuestionMaps To
1Why does this matter?Purpose / venture
2What truths guide us?Standards / Principles
3What do we control?Platform / current constraints
4What do we see others don't?Questions / perspectives surfaced
5How do we know it's working?Scoreboard metric to move

Feature / Function / Outcome​

#FeatureFunctionOutcome
1Tight Five agenda builderGenerate meeting invite from 5 questions with linked contextEvery meeting starts with explicit purpose
2Meeting type classifierTag as Collision / Discovery / Debate / Accountability / DecisionRight protocol applied to right meeting
3Structured minutes captureRecord decisions, bets, owners, due dates during meetingCommitments are traceable, not forgotten
4Output routerRoute each minute item to Problems, Standards, PRDs, or ScoreboardMeeting outputs land in the right system artifact
5Collision matcherMatch people by ZPD gap and complementary capabilityHigher quality creative collisions
6Decision journal integrationLog decisions with confidence level and falsification criteriaDecision quality compounds over time
7Cadence templatesDaily/weekly/monthly/quarterly meeting presetsConsistent rhythm without reinventing agendas
8Debrief protocolPost-meeting JTBD mapping and VVFL stage taggingEvery meeting feeds the feedback loop
9Attendance gatingRequire authority-level declaration for decision meetingsOnly decision-makers in decision meetings
10Follow-through trackerSurface uncommitted actions and overdue commitmentsCommitment doesn't decay

Meeting Cadence​

CadenceMeeting TypeInputOutputFeeds
DailyDecisionQuestion + Problem + ActionOne concrete move per venturePRD commissioning
WeeklyAccountability / DecisionFeature + Function + Outcome reviewUpdated commissioning stateScoreboard
MonthlyDiscovery / Debate / DecisionPilot + Proof + Pricing iterationEvidence-linked business dev updatesBusiness development
QuarterlyStandardsProtocol + Standard + Platform reviewRetire, promote, or refactor protocolsStandards

Minutes Schema​

Every meeting minute is a micro-commissioning artifact:

FieldPurposeLinks To
Meeting typeCollision / Discovery / Debate / Accountability / DecisionCadence template
VentureWhich mycelium venture this servesMycelium
Tight Five answersThe five questions answered before meetingAgenda builder
Attendees + authorityWho was there and what they could decideAttendance gate
DecisionsWhat was decided, with confidence and ownerDecision journal
BetsFalsifiable predictions madePredictions
Routed outputsWhere each action item lands in the systemOutput router
VVFL stageWhich loop stage this meeting advancedVVFL

Success Criteria​

TypeCriterionThreshold
FunctionalCreate meeting with Tight Five agendaUnder 5 minutes
FunctionalCapture and route minutes to system artifacts100% of decision items routed
FunctionalMatch two people by ZPD gap for collisionUnder 10 seconds
OutcomeMeetings producing at least one state change>= 90%
OutcomeDecision follow-through within agreed timeframe>= 80%
OutcomeReduction in repeated alignment meetings on same topic>= 50% reduction

Commissioning​

ComponentSchemaAPIUITestsStatus
Tight Five agenda builderPendingPendingPendingPending0%
Meeting type classifierPendingPendingPendingPending0%
Minutes capturePendingPendingPendingPending0%
Output routerPendingPendingPendingPending0%
Collision matcherPendingPendingPendingPending0%
Decision journal linkPendingPendingPendingPending0%
Cadence templatesPendingPendingPendingPending0%
Follow-through trackerPendingPendingPendingPending0%

Risks + Kill Signal​

RiskMitigation
Over-structuring kills spontaneityKeep collision meetings deliberately loose; structure only the capture
Adoption friction from agenda requirementsStart with decision meetings only; expand when the value is obvious
Minutes become bureaucratic overheadAI-assisted capture; one-click routing; never more than 5 minutes post-meeting
Collision matching feels forcedOpt-in matching; surface suggestions, don't mandate

Kill signal: If teams consistently skip the Tight Five agenda AND follow-through rates don't improve within 60 days, the protocol is adding friction without value.

Context​