[throwaway20875]

It has far less to do with "everybody silently sit in this room and read the paper at the beginning of this meeting" and more to with forcing the driver of meeting with articulating their thinking in writing form. Few understand that the 6-pager isn't about the reader but about the writer.

[dv_dt]

That’s an interesting thought that suggests that if you’re someone holding meetings, that you can get some of the benefit by writing a brief for the meeting even if the culture isn’t to stop and read and comment on it. I say some because I’d expect you get better at composing your thoughts if others are reading and critiquing the output.

[alok-g]

That applies to presentations as well.