When I read “Read This Before Our Next Meeting” by Al Pittampalli in less than 45-minutes on a cruise ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, I was blown away by how much good thinking he was able to pack into such a small book.

His assessment of, and solutions for, the broken meeting culture that exists in so many organizations was a revelation and I eagerly shared the book with a few friends when I returned to dry land. I actually keep copies of the book in my office to share with my weary colleagues who are the victims of chronic, terrible meetings.

I had the very unexpected fortune to meet Al at Seth Godin’s Ruckusmakers event in New York a few weeks ago and couldn’t get over what a kind and engaging man he was. On my trip from New York to Fairbanks I reached out to Al, inviting him to share his ideas about why we need better meetings in the form of a Skype interview.

Technology failed me and I was only able to capture the audio of our conversation, but if you are subjected to too many meetings that lack clarity of purpose, you will love this 15-minute conversation…and you will love Al’s book.