Am I having enough meetings?

Imagine an archer who has to shoot at a target. They fire 50 arrows. Some hit the bullseye, others hit the rim, others miss by a meter. Is the archer bad?

If all 50 arrows hit the bullseye, what’s most likely is that the target is too close, or that the archer is shooting too few arrows. Perfect consistency hides the fact that the system isn’t being tested.

applies to sales, fundraising, hiring

Same logic applies to any process where conversion isn’t 100%:

• If every sales meeting closes, you’re being too cautious about who you talk to.
• If every investor pitch gets a yes, you’re picking the wrong investor (one who doesn’t push back enough).
• If every interview ends in a hire, you’re settling for the first person who clears a minimum bar.

the reframe

A “bad” meeting isn’t a mistake. It’s the statistical variance you need to be running enough volume. The mental rule I use: “OK, this is the percentage of bad meetings that had to happen. Iterate and move on.”

Trying to make every meeting a good one leads you to having fewer meetings, which is worse than having some bad ones.

the mental test

If the past month had no uncomfortable meetings, no bad ones, no ones that left you doubting — you probably aren’t shooting enough arrows. Occasional discomfort is the proof the system is working.

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