A big part of all-hands meetings (not the only part, to be fair) is leaders trying to convince the rank and file that they should do such-and-such things because reasons. Aligning the entire org and all that, you know.

I tend to focus on the words that speakers use. In the arguments for doing new things, I often hear sentences starting with “we need to”. For example!

• We need to reach profitability by the end of 20xx …
• We need to ensure our product has the highest quality …
• We need to cut our expenditures by y percent …
• We need to function as a single, unified team …

Usually there are reasons why “we need to” do these things, and they are often sensible. So the goals are not silly. But, I’ve realized that in all of these cases it’s not true that “we need to” do any of these things.

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