Priming Before Decision-Making

Meetings are a combination of priming and decision-making—skipping priming is where most meetings fail

Evan LaPointe
Improve strategy, influence, and decision-making by understanding your brain

Priming Before Decision-Making

"A lot of meetings skip the priming step altogether. They launch directly into decision-making. It would be safe to skip the priming step if we began the meeting under the assumption that everybody here is on the same page, has the same information, and generally speaking, intends for the same outcome. I think that's a ludicrous assumption for most meetings." - Evan LaPointe

What It Is

Every meeting has two phases: priming (establishing shared context) and decision-making. Most meetings fail because they skip priming entirely, jumping straight into decisions with no alignment. This wastes enormous time in debates that are actually rooted in misaligned premises rather than genuine disagreement.

The average person can save a half-day to full day per week by fixing this one problem. It's not about adding time to meetings—priming can take under three minutes—it's about preventing the wasted cycles of "We're not on the same page" discoveries that derail decisions.

How It Works

What Priming Establishes

  1. What we're here to do - The specific purpose of this meeting
  2. How we should think about it - The principles that apply
  3. What mode we're in - Are we generating options, converging on decisions, challenging assumptions, or seeking efficiency?
  4. Sacred cows - Are we honoring existing constraints or questioning them?

The Principles Problem

If someone approaches a decision prioritizing speed while another prioritizes accuracy, they will inevitably clash—not because they disagree on the solution, but because they're operating from different premises.

"It is completely inevitable that they're about to have a cat fight in the meeting. It's not resolvable until they come back and revisit the fact that deeper down, we are approaching this in a completely different mentality with completely different objectives."

Common Failure Patterns

Pattern 1: Skipped priming entirely

  • Jump straight into debate
  • Discovery late in meeting that people disagree on fundamentals
  • Meeting ends with no decision

Pattern 2: Backwards ordering

  • Start with convergence (trying to decide)
  • Fail to converge because premises differ
  • Someone says "Let's start over and remember why we're all here"
  • Do priming at the end, just in time for meeting to end

How to Apply It

Quick Priming Template (Under 3 Minutes)

  1. Purpose: "This meeting is about [generating options / making a decision / challenging assumptions / seeking efficiency]"

  2. Principles: "We're optimizing for [speed / accuracy / thoroughness / creativity]. We [are / are not] questioning existing approaches."

  3. Context check: "Does everyone have what they need to contribute, or are there gaps we should fill first?"

In the Calendar Invite

Write a brief prime in the invitation body:

  • What category of conversation this is
  • What basic principles apply
  • Whether we're honoring or eating sacred cows
  • The mindset and ultimate purpose

During the Meeting

  • If debate erupts, pause and check: "Are we disagreeing on the solution, or disagreeing on the principles?"
  • Address principle debates first—they're shorter and unlock everything else

When to Use It

  • Every meeting where a decision will be made
  • When multiple stakeholders with different priorities will attend
  • After noticing the same topics getting rehashed in successive meetings
  • When meetings consistently run over time
  • When "I thought we decided this" keeps happening

Source

  • Guest: Evan LaPointe
  • Episode: "Improve strategy, influence, and decision-making by understanding your brain"
  • Key Discussion: (00:24:38) - Detailed explanation of priming vs decision-making phases
  • YouTube: Watch on YouTube

Related Frameworks

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