The Decision Meeting Operating System
Pre-read 24h before, three options plus a recommendation, a traffic-light table, notes 24h after.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 95%
A repeatable protocol for running high-value decision meetings: send a pre-read 24 hours ahead, frame every decision as three options plus a recommendation, evaluate options in a color-coded traffic-light table (options as rows, criteria as columns), real-time edit the projected visual to lock the decision, and use the calendar invite as the canonical unit for pre-read and post-meeting notes.
Origin
Gleit's 'Naomi-isms'; the traffic-light table is credited to Guy Rosen, Meta's Chief Security Officer.
Core principles
- 01A meeting is high value and high cost — protect it
- 02Everyone must arrive with full context via a pre-read
- 03Decisions need exactly three options and a recommendation
- 04A visual table beats a flat list of pros and cons
- 05The calendar invite is the canonical communication unit
How to run it
- 1
Send a pre-read 24 hours ahead
Attach an agenda and pre-read to the calendar invite at least 24 hours before the meeting so everyone arrives with full context.
Pro tip Some leaders cancel the meeting outright if the pre-read isn't attached 24 hours in advance.
- 2
Frame the decision as three options plus a recommendation
For a decision meeting, present exactly three options and your recommendation to focus the discussion.
- 3
Evaluate with a traffic-light table
Lay options as rows and evaluation criteria (functions like legal/policy/privacy, or dimensions like UX/engineering feasibility/complexity) as columns, color-coded red/yellow/green, with rationale in each cell.
Pro tip Let each function own filling in its own cell — a framework people can plug their perspective into.
Watch out A flat pros-and-cons list doesn't let you see the big picture at a glance; you want to spot the reddest option instantly.
- 4
Real-time edit the visual to lock the decision
During the meeting, edit the projected slide to record the chosen option and the numbered next steps, so disagreements surface live.
Pro tip When you edit 'we decided option one, next steps 1-2-3' on screen, anyone who heard it differently corrects it right there.
Watch out Without this, people leave the meeting with different memories of what was agreed.
- 5
Send notes within 24 hours via the calendar invite
Reply-all to the calendar invite within 24 hours with the decision and next steps, so even those who missed the meeting are covered.
Pro tip Use the calendar invite as the canonical unit — its audience maps to the meeting better than any existing email or chat thread.
In the wild
Learned from Guy Rosen, Gleit replaced flat pros-and-cons with a table: three options as rows, evaluation criteria as columns, each cell color-coded red/yellow/green with the specific rationale spelled out inside.
→ Decision-makers can scan for the most red and rule an option out instantly, while functions each own and fill their own cells.
Common mistakes
Pros-and-cons as a flat text list
A flat list is hard to get a big-picture read from; a color-coded table lets you see at a glance which option is weakest and why.
No real-time documentation
If the decision and next steps aren't edited live into the shared visual, people leave with conflicting recollections of what was agreed.
Is it for you?
Best for
PMs and leaders who run frequent cross-functional decision meetings and want consistent, low-ambiguity outcomes
Not ideal for
Open-ended brainstorming or exploratory discussions where forcing three options and a recommendation would be premature
From the transcript
“What I will do is send an agenda 24 hours prior to the meeting um that agenda will include a pre-ad”
“if there is a decision I need three options and I need a recommendation”
“we'll use a traffic light that means that the three options are three rows the columns in the table will be criteria by which to…”
“it should be color coded red yellow grein based on how it Stacks up against those criteria”
“tactically I use the calendar invite as the canonical unit by which to handle all of this communication”
From the episode
Meta’s Head of Product (and 29th employee) on working with Mark Zuckerberg, early growth tactics, why PMs are like conductors, and more
Naomi Gleit