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Harvard Business School has a free weekly newsletter called Working Knowledge. Each week they provide three book reviews, three hot topics and much more. In this week's issue is an article excerpted from Harvard Management Communication Letter, The Morning Meeting Ritual, by Marty Linsky.

(I)mbedded within (TMM) are norms and values that are critical for organizations that must deal with difficult issues and adapt nimbly to new situations.

The Morning Meeting (TMM) is described as a senior management process that includes the CEO and all others who report to that person. Linsky's description of TMM shows the power that can be exerted by such a group. Here are his (abbreviated) rules for conducting the meeting:

• Anyone can put anything on the table for discussion.
• These are decision meetings.
• Once an issue is fully vetted, the CEO determines the decision rule that will govern it.
• Changing one's mind, even in the middle of the conversation, is OK, even respected. Not having an opinion is not.
• There are no arguments about fact questions.

I can see TMM process working on complex projects and in PMO's. Good project management practice on construction projects includes an end-of-day meeting to have the foremen declare what work they completed and re-confirm their promises (or re-promise) for the coming day. TMM takes it a step further. As a beginning-of-the-day process it could help the project team stay out of trouble.

"On the surface, TMM is about communication, but imbedded within it are norms and values that are critical for organizations that must deal with difficult issues and adapt nimbly to new situations: an openness to considering multiple perspectives, a willingness to share responsibility for finding creative solutions, and the discipline to move consistently from strategy to execution."

Good project management places a premium on conversation. The Morning Meeting is one way to turn the premium into a habit.