Catherine Kokoszka was scheduled to begin a meeting at 10:00 am. Kokoszka, age 52, is the Paris director of judicial youth protection (in French, Protection judiciaire de la jeunesse, responsible for endangered minors, juvenile delinquents, and some troubled young adults); on October 1, she'll be awarded the Order of Merit.

Kokoszka didn't want to go through with the 10:00 am meeting last Tuesday. So she didn't. She instead jumped out the fourth-floor conference room window. (She survived the fall, and her life is not in danger today.)

We tend to ask too much of meetings but accomplish too little with them. Why not frame them by written documents: specific agendas and prompt summaries? Why not announce news in a memo, then hold the meeting to discuss implementation (but not to debate the news)?

Marketing guru Seth Godin offered some great ideas to get more out of meetings. My favorite: remove the chairs from the conference room.