The Meetings issue

Before we dive straight into it, I thought I’d let you know that I’ve shortened this issue slightly. Some feedback I got was that there was a lot in the previous issues. Almost too much, so to make this while thing more readable, I’ve shortened it slightly. Let me know your thoughts if you get two mins, just reply to this. I’m always keen for feedback.

Anyway, onto the good stuff. Well, meetings. Who knew you could write so much about meetings?

Sarah stared at her calendar and felt that familiar knot in her stomach. Back-to-back meetings from 9 AM to 4 PM. Again.

The worst part? She couldn’t shake the feeling that most of these meetings would accomplish exactly what they could have accomplished via email: absolutely nothing that required eight people to stop their actual work and sit in a room together.

But here’s what Sarah didn’t realise: she was missing a fundamental distinction that separates world-class teams from everyone else. The question isn’t whether meetings are good or bad—it’s whether you’re using them to transfer information or transform it.

The Hidden Framework Behind Every Great Meeting

Most workplace meetings fail because they confuse two fundamentally different purposes:

• Transferring Information: Moving data, updates, or decisions from one person to others
• Transforming Information: Collaborative processing that creates new insights, solutions, or alignment

The problem? We treat them the same way. We schedule a “meeting” without clarifying the reason, the intention and the desired outcome, then wonder why half the room looks like they’d rather be anywhere else.

Recent research from Atlassian’s Team Anywhere Lab validates this distinction. They found that 77% of knowledge workers frequently attend meetings that end with a decision to schedule another meeting, and 54% leave meetings without clear next steps. The culprit? Confusion about whether the meeting should transfer or transform information.

So the reality check is: if you’re just transferring information, you probably don’t need a traditional meeting. If you’re transforming information, you probably can’t succeed without structured collaboration.

Transfer Meetings: When Information Needs to Move

Transfer meetings have one job: efficiently deliver information from point A to point B. Think of them as high-quality broadcasting.

What Transfer Looks Like:

• Quarterly results presentation: Leadership shares financial performance and key metrics
• Product launch announcement: Marketing explains the go-to-market timeline and everyone’s role
• Process change rollout: Operations walks through new procedures that affect multiple teams
• Project status briefing: A project manager updates stakeholders on progress and blockers

These meetings succeed when information moves clearly and quickly. Questions are for clarification, not collaboration. The goal is shared understanding, not shared creation.

The Transfer Meeting Test:

• Could this information be documented beforehand? ✓
• Is the primary flow one-directional (presenter to audience)? ✓
• Are we mainly confirming understanding rather than building new ideas? ✓
• Would the outcome be roughly the same if people couldn’t interrupt with questions? ✓

If you answered yes to most of these, you’re in transfer mode.

Ask yourself, ”Could this be an Email/Slack/Notion update?

Transforming Meetings: When Information Needs to Evolve

Transform meetings take current state information or ideas and create something new through collective processing. The magic happens in the interaction.

What Transform Looks Like:

• Strategic planning session: Taking market data and competitive intelligence to develop next year’s roadmap
• Problem-solving workshop: Using customer complaints and technical constraints to design solutions
• Post-mortem analysis: Converting project successes and failures into organisational learning
• Creative brainstorming: Transforming a business challenge into innovative campaign concepts

These meetings succeed when diverse perspectives collide productively. The input matters, but the real value comes from what the group creates together.

The Transform Meeting Test:

• Will we generate ideas that nobody walked in with? ✓
• Do we need multiple viewpoints to reach the best outcome? ✓
• Is there genuine uncertainty about what we’ll conclude? ✓
• Would the result be significantly worse with just one person deciding? ✓

If you answered yes to most of these, you’re in transform mode.

The Spectrum: It’s Not Always Black and White

We probably have meetings that are a bit of both. The key is being intentional about when you’re doing what.

Example: Monthly Team Meeting

• Transfer portion (15 minutes): Updates on budget, headcount, and policy changes
• Transform portion (30 minutes): Collaborative problem-solving on the team’s biggest challenge
• Transfer portion (10 minutes): Assignments and next steps

The mistake most teams make? Letting these blend into an unfocused mess where nobody knows whether they should be listening, thinking, or contributing.

Optimising Transfer Meetings: Make Information Stick

When you need to transfer information effectively, Atlassian’s research points to a game-changing approach: page-led meetings.

The Page-Led Method Instead of relying on slides or verbal presentations, create a high-quality written document that participants read at the beginning of or before the meeting. This document should include:

• Essential context and background
• Clear meeting goals
• Key decisions that need to be made
• Specific discussion points

Atlassian’s experiment showed that teams using this approach were 29% more likely to feel energised after meetings and 23% less likely to feel frustrated. Most importantly, 85% of page-led meetings accomplished their goals versus only 69% of traditional meetings.

Structure for Clarity

• Lead with the bottom line: “Here’s what you need to know and why it matters”
• Keep it concise: Effective pages averaged 3 minutes to read versus 5.7 minutes for untrained facilitators
• Design for scanning: Use headers, bullet points, and clear sections so people can quickly find relevant information

Engage Without Overwhelming

• Silent pre-read: Start meetings with 5-10 minutes of reading time so everyone starts on the same page
• Structured Q&A: Build in specific moments for questions: “Before I move to budget implications, what questions do you have about the timeline?”
• Confirmation techniques: “Sarah, how does this affect your team’s sprint planning?”
• Document outcomes: The same page that started the meeting becomes the record of decisions made

Respect Everyone’s Time

• Front-load the essentials: Most important information comes first
• End with explicit next steps: Everyone knows what to do with the information
• Make attendance strategic: Only include people who need the information immediately or have input that affects decisions

Optimising Transform Meetings: Create Collaborative Magic

When you need to transform information through collaboration, here are some approaches you can try:

Set the Creative Container

• Start with context: “Here’s what we know, here’s what we’re trying to solve”
• Establish psychological safety: “We need everyone’s perspectives, especially dissenting ones, so don’t be shy in coming forward with your ideas or thoughts”
• Define success: “We’ll know this worked if we leave with X”

Design for Interaction

• Use breakout groups to generate ideas before sharing with everyone
• Try “Yes, and…” rules to build on ideas rather than shoot them down
• Rotate who’s leading different parts of the discussion

Process Ideas Effectively

• Capture everything visibly (whiteboard, shared doc, sticky notes)
• Group similar concepts before evaluating them
• Use structured decision-making methods when you need to narrow options

Protect the Process

• Don’t let senior voices dominate early—get broad input first
• Stay curious longer than feels comfortable before rushing to solutions
• Build in reflection time: “What are we learning? What are we missing?”

Common Pitfalls (And How to Avoid Them)

The Transfer Trap: Using transform-style meetings for simple information sharing

• Symptoms: Hour-long meetings where one person talks for 50 minutes while others mentally check out
• Fix: Ask, “Do we need discussion, or do we need understanding?” If it’s understanding, use the page-led approach or send a video instead
• Reality check: If you can predict what people will know at the end of the meeting, it’s probably transfer, so try an email.

The Transform Fake-Out: Calling something collaborative when you’ve already decided

• Symptoms: “Brainstorming” sessions where only one idea gets real consideration, or asking for input on decisions that are effectively final
• Fix: Be honest about what’s open for input and what isn’t. If you want buy-in, say so. If you want ideas, mean it and create space for them to genuinely influence the outcome

The Hybrid Mess: Mixing both without clear transitions

• Symptoms: Meetings that feel scattered and unproductive despite good intentions; participants unclear about when to listen versus when to contribute
• Fix: Explicitly label each section. “For the next 10 minutes, I’m going to share some context. Then we’ll work together to solve the resource allocation challenge.”

The Slide Trap: Defaulting to presentations for everything

• Research finding: Traditional slide-based meetings consistently underperformed compared to page-led approaches
• Why slides fail: They’re often created as “info dumps” rather than decision-making tools, presenters and participants can’t stay synchronised, and there’s no permanent record of context and decisions
• Better approach: Reserve slides for visual data that truly benefits from charts or graphics; use written pages for everything else

The Bottom Line

The most successful teams aren’t the ones with fewer meetings—they’re the ones who are crystal clear about what each meeting is trying to accomplish.

When you need to transfer information, do it efficiently and respectfully. When you need to transform information, create space for real collaboration.

The magic happens when everyone in the room knows which game they’re playing.

Sarah figured this out three months later. She started every meeting invitation with one line: “This is a transfer meeting to update everyone on X” or “This is a transform meeting to solve Y together.”

Her team’s feedback was immediate: “Finally, I know how to prepare.”

Your next meeting is a chance to try this framework. The question isn’t whether you’ll have meetings—it’s whether they’ll be worth the time you’re asking people to invest.

What information are you trying to move, and what are you trying to create?

The answer determines everything else.

📚 Further Reading

To expand your understanding, consider exploring the following resources:

• “Transferring, Translating, and Transforming: An Integrative Framework for Managing Knowledge Across Boundaries” by Paul R. Carlile: This paper delves into the complexities of knowledge management across different domains. formationforcev3.wordpress.com
• “The 16 Types of Business Meetings (and Why They Matter)” by Lucid Meetings: This article categorises meetings based on their objectives, providing insights into designing effective meetings.
• “Knowledge Sharing vs Knowledge Transfer: Understanding the Key Differences” by Corporate Knowhow: This piece differentiates between knowledge sharing and transfer, offering practical implications for organisations. corporate-knowhow.com

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What I learned from speaking to a sales leader who’s built multiple teams from scratch.

Watch here

Ciaran has led and built sales teams at startups like Cuttable and Easil, taking them from zero to scaling. He’s navigated the chaos of early-stage companies, learned from hiring mistakes, and honed an approach that’s deeply people-focused and highly adaptable.

Here are three key lessons that stood out:

Early-stage sales teams need builders, not just closers “Especially from zero to ten, you’re actually looking for builders more than closers.”

Ciaran emphasizes that initial hires should be individuals who actively contribute to building and refining sales processes, messaging, and strategies—not simply people who excel at closing established deals. These builders act almost as product managers, capturing critical customer insights and continually adapting the sales approach.

Adaptability and resilience are essential “Startups don’t reward perfect timing—they reward adaptability.”

The ability to rapidly adapt to changing conditions, especially when processes, messaging, or even the product itself are constantly evolving, is crucial. Hiring individuals who embrace uncertainty and can handle rapid shifts in priorities without losing momentum is fundamental.

Coachability and alignment matter more than CV polish “Coachability is non-negotiable. Things change every single week—can they take feedback and work on it?”

Ciaran underscores the importance of hiring individuals who are eager and open to feedback, reflecting genuine coachability. Alongside this, alignment with the company’s mission and business goals is paramount. Sales hires must deeply understand and be motivated by the broader context and direction of the company.

Final thought.

Ciaran approaches sales leadership with the mindset of a builder and a mentor, emphasising teamwork, adaptability, and deep alignment over traditional metrics and isolated targets.

The List: ANZ Startup Founders Who Pivoted Their Way to Success

6 Founders Who Turned Strategic Shifts Into Billion-Dollar Wins

The most successful startups in Australia and New Zealand didn’t just stick to their original plans—they pivoted when reality demanded it. These founders show how strategic course corrections, rather than stubborn adherence to initial ideas, often make the difference between failure and phenomenal success.

Why Pivoting Happens: Pivots aren’t admissions of failure—they’re strategic responses to market feedback that reveal bigger opportunities. Most pivots occur when founders realize their initial solution addresses too narrow a market, when customer feedback points to a different core problem, or when technological capabilities unlock new possibilities they hadn’t originally envisioned.

The best pivots maintain the founder’s core mission and insights while finding more scalable paths to impact. As Culture Amp’s Didier Elzinga learned from Hollywood, “you have to be willing to follow leads” and show up for unexpected opportunities. The founders below didn’t abandon their vision, they refined it based on real-world learning, often discovering that their “small” initial idea was actually the foundation for something much larger.

1. Melanie Perkins & Cliff Obrecht (Canva) – From Yearbooks to Global Design Empire

• The Original Vision: Fusion Books, an online yearbook design tool for Australian high schools
• The Pivot: Expanding from yearbooks to a universal design platform for everyone
• The Strategic Shift: Fusion Books was founded by Perkins and Obrecht in 2007. Fusion Books allowed students to design their own school yearbooks by using a simple drag-and-drop tool equipped with a library of design templates that could be populated with photos, illustrations, and fonts.

What started as frustration with complex design software during university teaching sessions led to Fusion Books in 2007. “People would have to spend an entire semester learning where the buttons were, and that seemed completely ridiculous,” Perkins told CNBC Make It. While Fusion Books helped validate their idea and reached 400 high schools at its peak, Perkins and Obrecht knew yearbooks had limited scalability.

The pivot wasn’t just about expanding the market—it was about democratizing design globally. Rather than take on all of design all at once, the couple targeted the yearbook market. Fusion Books, launched in 2011 with a contracted tech team, pitched its web-based yearbook editing tool to Australian secondary schools. This methodical approach to proving their concept before scaling globally helped them secure the tech talent and investment needed for Canva’s 2013 launch.

LinkedIn: Melanie Perkins | Website: Canva

2. Tim Fung (Airtasker) – From Simple Help to Marketplace Revolution

• The Original Vision: A basic platform to get help with moving apartments
• The Pivot: Building an infinitely scalable marketplace for any local service
• The Strategic Shift: The idea for Airtasker was born out of a simple need: moving house. When Tim was moving to a new apartment, he realized that he could use some extra help. Instead of hiring a professional moving service, he asked a friend who owned a truck to help him move.

“The idea for Airtasker came together through a combination of personal experiences and observations I had over time. Back in 2011, I was moving apartments and a friend of mine helped me move using a truck that he uses in his business to deliver frozen chicken nuggets.” This lightbulb moment led Fung to realize the broader opportunity.

The pivot came from recognizing that the core problem wasn’t just about moving—it was about efficiently connecting people who need work done with those who have time and skills. “I saw an opportunity to create a marketplace to enable people in the local community to help with everyday tasks. At the time, there were services for hiring professional providers, but nothing that made it easy to connect with people locally who could help with everyday type jobs.”

Airtasker’s marketplace model proved its flexibility during COVID-19, when taskers quickly shifted to contact-free delivery, home office installation, and bicycle repairs, actually accelerating growth during the pandemic.

LinkedIn: Tim Fung | Website: Airtasker

3. Didier Elzinga (Culture Amp) – From Performance Management to Culture Analytics

• The Original Vision: A performance management tool to replace annual reviews
• The Pivot: A comprehensive culture analytics platform
• The Strategic Shift: “I started Culture Amp on a slightly different problem, which was around performance management: how do we take something that’s a universally loathed annual backwards-looking process and turn it into a forward looking continuous coaching situation?”

Elzinga’s background in Hollywood visual effects gave him unique insights into team dynamics and culture. It was while working on Hollywood’s hallowed sets that Elzinga conceived the idea behind Culture Amp — to make a better world of work. His experience organizing groups of 150+ people for film projects showed him that “the biggest lever we had was how we engaged people to work together.”

The pivot happened when they realized the bigger opportunity wasn’t just fixing performance reviews—it was helping companies understand their entire culture through data. The idea Culture Amp is built around came from discussions I had with Dr Jason McPherson, who is our chief scientist and was our first employee. We were both just reflecting on the fact that marketers had all this information about customers but on the People & Culture side we really didn’t have much information at all about who these people were that we worked with all the time.

This shift from performance management to culture analytics helped Culture Amp reach a $2 billion valuation and serve over 6,000 companies globally.

LinkedIn: Didier Elzinga | Website: Culture Amp

4. Flavia Tata Nardini & Matt Pearson (Fleet Space Technologies) – From IoT to Space-Powered Mining

• The Original Vision: IoT connectivity solutions
• The Pivot: Space-powered mineral exploration and critical mineral discovery
• The Strategic Shift: Fleet Space began as an IoT startup before pivoting to space-powered exploration.

Fleet Space has become a mainstay of the burgeoning Australian space tech industry since it was founded in 2015 with a mission to harness the capabilities of space exploration technologies to accelerate decarbonisation and global energy transition. The company recognized that their satellite and sensor technology had far greater potential in mineral exploration than general IoT applications.

It is doing this through its ExoSphere platform, which combines LEO satellites, smart seismic sensors, and AI to accelerate critical mineral discovery. Already, the platform has been deployed for more than 40 exploration companies globally, including projects with Rio Tinto and Barrick Gold.

This pivot proved highly successful, with Fleet Space raising a $150 million Series D in December 2024, valuing the company at over $800 million.

Website: Fleet Space Technologies

5. Paul Riley (Samsara Eco) – From General Recycling to Enzymatic Breakthrough

• The Original Vision: Traditional recycling solutions
• The Pivot: Revolutionary enzymatic recycling for fashion and textiles
• The Strategic Shift: Founded in 2020 by Paul Riley, Samsara Eco specialises in enzymatic recycling, using advanced chemical processes to repurpose hard-to-recycle materials.

The company focused initially on broader recycling challenges but pivoted to specialise in the fashion textile industry when they realised their enzymatic technology had particular power in this space. The startup has raised serious capital to date, including $100 million in Series A extension funding in June this year, and has honed in on the fashion textile industry. To this end, it has already been working with the likes of Lululemon and NILIT.

The pivot paid off dramatically when they achieved their latest breakthrough: earlier this month, it revealed another breakthrough: its latest enzyme is capable of recycling nylon 6, which is a synthetic fibre commonly used in clothing, hosiery and the automotive sector.

Website: Samsara Eco

6. Raj Bagri (Kapture) – From Carbon Storage to Concrete Innovation

• The Original Vision: General carbon capture and storage
• The Pivot: Embedding carbon directly into concrete production
• The Strategic Shift: Kapture has developed technology to collect carbon emissions from exhaust fumes and embed them in concrete. The startup’s solution can sequester and store carbon emissions from internal combustion engines, including diesel generators. This diverts CO2 from the atmosphere while simultaneously creating a new, high-quality replacement for traditional cement ingredients.

The tech represents a world-first, according to Kapture co-founder and CEO Raj Bagri. “No one in the world has developed a product that can go into the concrete-making process with no green premium,” Bagri told SmartCompany.

The pivot from general carbon storage to specific concrete applications created a unique value proposition, turning emissions into valuable building materials without additional cost.

Key Insight: These pivots weren’t random course corrections; they were strategic responses to market feedback and deeper understanding of customer needs. Each founder maintained their core mission while finding more scalable and impactful ways to achieve it.

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