The Resilient Entrepreneur, Edition #117
Hi there
I hope you had a great week!
Here are the topics in today's edition:
- AI Takes Your Meeting Notes. But Who Reads Them?
- Tactical Terms: How To Turn Vague Discussions Into Action
Please reach out with comments, questions, or suggestions for articles!
Talk soon,
Tom
TACTICS FOR RESILIENT ENTREPRENEURS
AI Takes Your Meeting Notes. But Who Reads Them?
AI meeting notes feel productive. But the decisions that matter are taken in bar conversations or spontaneous calls, not in formal meetings.
In the good old days, meetings were minuted by administrative staff, creating verbatim transcripts.
A few years ago, Microsoft Teams and Zoom added call recording.
In the AI era, all those video call tools can not only record calls, but also create AI minutes, including action items, and automatically send them to all participants once the call has ended.
That’s all great. But what is the true essence of meetings? What is the true essence of communicating with other humans? In my humble opinion, it’s certainly not about the meeting minutes, whatever form they may take.
Writing vs. Remembering
Paper is patient. Even if you write things down, it doesn’t mean that you will find your notes again when you need them. And it certainly doesn’t mean you will remember the content of your notes at the right moment.
Speaking for myself, I use Obsidian to keep meeting notes. When I am planning my next week, I prepare meeting notes in Obsidian for each and every meeting. I list the points to be discussed and the attendees, complementing those notes when wrapping up each meeting. But even though all my Obsidian notes are linked, it happens now and then that I am surprised to find interesting stuff in my own notes from previous meetings.
In contrast, those who have worked with me know that I have a good memory, especially for people’s names and what was discussed with whom on what date. That memory often serves me better than my meeting notes.
Who Will Ever Read It Again?
At Yonder, the B2B SaaS company I co-founded, we serve some public sector customers. In contrast to private companies, it’s impossible to miss the public sector’s emphasis on creating written records from meetings, test protocols, etc. I guess this stems from the need to archive documents in public organizations.
It’s the same in my active reserve officer assignment in the Swiss Armed Forces: The amount of forms, records, and meeting minutes is humongous.
Here is the core question: Who will read all these records ever again? Who will be able to connect the dots between all these records? I dare to say that most of the records will never be read again. Even if all those AI tools promise you that they can use all your meeting notes to connect the dots and generate insights. Alas, most AI productivity tools are anyway blocked on most public sector IT clients.
The Magic Happens in Informal Meetings
Meeting minutes are boring, but they are required in some cases, no doubt. However, when does the magic happen? From my own experience, it’s usually not in formal meetings. It’s the famous discussions late at night in a bar just before a major deal closes. It’s the frenzy of multiple calls right in time for a critical decision. And it’s the spontaneous thoughts people suddenly come up with after contemplating and weighing options for some time.
Who has ever seen meeting notes for such events? Maybe I’m a lonely warrior, but I never have.
Conclusion
I’m not saying meeting notes aren’t important. From my own experience, I believe that a good memory and a mobile phone are much more important to reach major decisions. You need to know the essence of previous conversations at the top of your head, and you need to be able to call the right people spontaneously to achieve breakthroughs.
Without throwing away all your meeting notes, why don’t you keep your memory in shape and your mobile phone charged?
STRATEGIES FOR RESILIENT ENTREPRENEURS
Tactical Terms: How To Turn Vague Discussions Into Action
“Let’s discuss it” is not a plan. “I need to think about it” is not progress. The military concept of tactical terms changes everything.
Those who read my articles regularly know that besides being the Founder & CEO of Yonder, a B2B SaaS company, I am also an active reserve officer in the Swiss Armed Forces. Being a military officer for more than 20 years leaves traces on your life, whether you want it or not.
Ask my kids. Not only do they know what a battalion is and why there are compulsory shooting exercises in Switzerland, but they also know what tactical terms are.
Wait, what? Don’t worry, I’m not leading my family like a battalion. But tactical terms are such an important concept in life in general that I even teach my kids about them. Let’s look into what a tactical term it is and how it can help you in business and life in general.
What Is A Tactical Term?
In the military, tactical terms describe actions that a formation can carry out. “Attack”, “hold”, “observe”, “deny access”, “eliminate”, and many more. Tactical terms always contain a verb, and they are always about doing things.
To contrast this with real business life, here are some expressions that aren’t tactical terms: “Let’s discuss it”, “I’m on it”, “I need to think about it”, or “here is an update.” Complaining is also not a tactical term.
See the difference? Tactical terms are always oriented towards action and outcomes.
The last important thing about tactical terms is that they need to be properly defined. If the two of us have a different understanding of what “attack” or “deny access” means, our military operation will end in disaster. It’s the same in business – if people aren’t aligned on the tactical terms, you will not succeed.
When Should You Use Tactical Terms?
The short answer is: Whenever you want to get stuff done. But that’s not helpful advice. So let’s dig a little deeper.
Evaluating Options
Whatever you are trying to accomplish, there is always more than one option to get from here to there. That’s a core thing I learned in the military: Always present several options to solve a problem, and always present the advantages and disadvantages of every option in an easy-to-understand overview. Then describe each option in a few bullet points. The key point? Each bullet point must include a tactical term. If an option description doesn’t include tactical terms, drop the option.
Why? Because solving a problem requires action.
Unblocking Discussions
I’m sure you have come across many blocked discussions in your entrepreneurial life. Investor discussions stall, and you don’t understand why. An RFP doesn’t move forward, even though you answered all the prospect’s questions and you received positive feedback on your product. You’re having discussions about an employee’s performance.
Why are those discussions stuck? Train your senses to spot the absence of tactical terms. When people talk about “looking into it”, “let’s wait and observe how the situation develops”, or “we need to discuss this in more detail”, it’s clear why things don’t move: The discussions aren’t centered on solving a problem, but on nurturing a problem.
Focus on the Deliverables
If you want results, you need a product. However, a product is not always a product in the sense of something you can sell; it can also be an RFP response, a marketing newsletter, or whatever. Sharpen your senses to always ask what product or deliverable is expected until when. If you know your deliverable, you can take action. And that leads you back to the tactical terms.
Conclusion
These were just three examples where tactical terms help you get things done.
Now, what can you do to put this concept into practice? As always with challenging leadership topics, you can’t put this into perfect practice within a day. But you need to start working in the right direction. Why don’t you begin by defining the relevant tactical terms for whatever business you’re in, and sharpening your senses to spot the absence of those tactical terms?
About Me
I’m a tech entrepreneur, active reserve officer, and father of three — writing about entrepreneurship, leadership, and crisis management from hard-won experience. No AI, no fluff, no promos. Just plain-text insights for people building and leading under pressure.
When I’m not solving problems, I find clarity in the mountains around Zermatt.
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