Working Wisdom: quote about planning and execution

“If they can’t start a meeting without you, well, that’s a meeting worth going to, isn’t it? And that’s the only kind of meeting you should ever concern yourselves with.”

This quote from Buddy Ackermann comes from the comedy-drama movie Swimming with Sharks (released in 1994). In the film, powerful movie producer Buddy Ackermann (played by Kevin Spacey, pictured) is the rude and abusive boss of a young Hollywood executive called Guy (played by Frank Whaley), who eventually kidnaps him to take revenge.

Meetings are an essential part of business life but can be notoriously time-consuming. Leaders are keen to eliminate wasted effort and frustration among their teams and create environments of engagement instead. Supply chain management methodologies such as sales & operations planning (S&OP) and integrated business planning (IBP) can help to ensure that meetings are as focused, worthwhile and efficient as possible.