The DARN Paradigm

Every meeting should have an associated writeup.

Every writeup should have exactly three sections:

  • Decisions made
  • Action items
  • Raw Notes

D, A, RN. The DARN Paradigm!

This is useful across a couple of axes. It makes it easy to skim meetings that you were absent from (which encourages people to not attend meetings, an unquestionably good thing.) It identifies meetings that don't have clear decisions made or action items (which encourages you to cancel those meetings or push them in directions that force actions). It means you have a clear thing to review at the end of meetings (okay, so who's doing X? what about Y? Are we all in agreement about Z?)

It's good! Use the DARN paradigm.

(Why is this called the DARN Paradigm? Because this is the exact kind of sensible-but-low-stakes thing that you could write a fluffy 170-page book about and start a slow but inexorable rebrand as a "business expert", and of course it needs a hackneyed, overwrought name.)

5/6/2021
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© 2023 Justin Duke • You deserve a high five.