Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable and Inspiring
Review: I found this book very inspiring. The fable style really makes reading enjoyable. Simple example in daily life.
Rating: 
Summary: Ugh! The worst
Review: I have read all of Lencionni's other books and this one is a real disappointment. I didn't believe a single second of it. Please have the major character come to our company; he would be lynched in a minute.
Rating:
Summary: Death by Meeting
Review: I read this book skeptically -- but discovered it was really useful besides being totally well written and entertaining. I think the way the author presents this picture is simple - but not simplistic -- much like the author's other books. Most people do work in situations where there are certainly personality issues (which he tackles in the Teams book) but even with those under control meetings themselves are sorely lacking in tapping into the best people have to offer. This book helps you really get at this. Its great -- and from my experience definitely needed.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Much like "The Goal"
Review: If you are a fan of "The Goal" then you might enjoy this quick read. Designed to solve a pressing business problem of bad meetings, "Death by Meeting" takes you thru a fictional scenario of how to make meetings in any organization better. Unfortunantly this book does not state that we should not have meeting (which I think we all hope for), instead Patrick provides insight into how to make meeting more effective and yes, fun. While the story can be a little over the top, with the film-student providing direction to the executive staff on how to run meetings, it all comes together in the last twenty pages on how to run effective meetings. If you are really short on time, read the last chapter first, and go back to the story if you choose, otherwise dive right in, and you will find that you can read the whole book in less than two hours. This is one book that is worth buying used, because it is such a quick read.
Rating: 
Summary: A Framework To Build On for Fixing the Bad Meeting Dilemna
Review: If you dwell in the all too common world of unproductive meetings -- which I'd hazard to guess is at least a 50/50 chance -- this book is well worth a look. Consistent with his "business fable" style, Lencioni makes "Death by Meeting" a quick read with some easy to grasp but powerful principles as the payoff. How many time's have you heard the term, "I can't get anything done because I'm always in meetings." Sounds logical right? Not so, says Lencioni. He precedes to show us through his fable that what's needed is a paradigm shift on how we think about meetings. Meetings aren't problems, they are opporturnities. Meetings don't have to be a death walk, they can inspire, challenge, and bring problems out in the open to be wrestled to the ground and resolved. In my view, the power of Lencioni's principles are in their simplicity. How many times have you waded through a business book and found yourself inspired only to forget half the of 20 "principles" and so called recipes for success. Lencioni's principles are simple enough that they are both easily grasped and memorable. The challenge for readers of "Death by Meeting" teachings is that Lencioni provides little beyond the basic framework. He gives few suggestions for implementation, and does not warn of pitfalls or discuss the implications of company culture and barriers that might arise. His message is in affect, here's the framework -- now get to it. That's a tough pill to swallow for readers who find very few similarities between the company and the leaders depicted in the story and their own situation. But I'd argue that this isn't a valid excuse to let the book gather dust on the shelf. Those who go forward boldly may soon find that they'll create their own fable with a happy ending.
Rating:
Summary: A Framework To Build On for Fixing the Bad Meeting Dilemna
Review: If you dwell in the all too common world of unproductive meetings -- which I'd hazard to guess is at least a 50/50 chance -- this book is well worth a look. Consistent with his "business fable" style, Lencioni makes "Death by Meeting" a quick read with some easy to grasp but powerful principles as the payoff. How many time's have you heard the term, "I can't get anything done because I'm always in meetings." Sounds logical right? Not so, says Lencioni. He precedes to show us through his fable that what's needed is a paradigm shift on how we think about meetings. Meetings aren't problems, they are opporturnities. Meetings don't have to be a death walk, they can inspire, challenge, and bring problems out in the open to be wrestled to the ground and resolved. In my view, the power of Lencioni's principles are in their simplicity. How many times have you waded through a business book and found yourself inspired only to forget half the of 20 "principles" and so called recipes for success. Lencioni's principles are simple enough that they are both easily grasped and memorable. The challenge for readers of "Death by Meeting" teachings is that Lencioni provides little beyond the basic framework. He gives few suggestions for implementation, and does not warn of pitfalls or discuss the implications of company culture and barriers that might arise. His message is in affect, here's the framework -- now get to it. That's a tough pill to swallow for readers who find very few similarities between the company and the leaders depicted in the story and their own situation. But I'd argue that this isn't a valid excuse to let the book gather dust on the shelf. Those who go forward boldly may soon find that they'll create their own fable with a happy ending.
Rating:
Summary: Death By Meeting
Review: Lencioni has done it again. He truly has a gift to tell stories and this fable captures your attention from beginning to end. Executives seem to be comfortable with meetings that lack luster, context and clarity -- no wonder smart people make horrible decisions at times. When something is so wildly broken, the only way to fix it is a whole new approach - which Lencioni provides in his meetings model outlined in the second part of the book. Like his previous book, this one will be a best-seller for a long, long time (I did just notice it appeared on the BusinessWeek Best-seller list already).
Rating:
Summary: Read this in one night...
Review: Lencioni's style kept me up until 2 a.m. reading this powerful book. His central point is that meetings should be as dynamic as movies because meetings make more impact on our everyday lives. I facilitate meetings with senior leaders (all of whom read this book) and I look forward to implementing some of these ideas in our environment. While intended for business leaders, church leaders stand to benefit from the healthy conflict around ideas that Patrick suggests.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as his earlier works
Review: Meetings are a problem, but Patrick could have used the analogies from 5 Temptations or Obsessions. The story and model are stretched thin and lack the umph of his earlier works.
Rating:
Summary: We have seen it work
Review: Mr. Lencioni has a keen understanding of people and organizational issues. His greatest contribution continues to be formulating simple, practical frameworks for addressing issues that plague organizations. Bad meetings are one of those persisent, nagging problems that haunt effectiveness. The correlation of meetings to the different types of TV shows/movies makes it easy to see the two fundamental problems with meetings. Having worked for years as business coaches with CEO's and executive teams around a meeting structure very similar to the one proposed by Mr. Lencioni we can state that it produces results within organizations. We have seen executive teams increase their effectiveness in short time through the disciplined approach to a meeting structure aligned wtih the framework in this book.
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