Pacsun CEO Brieane Olson on the Paradox of Meeting Efficiency

Olson, whose leadership philosophy is detailed in her new book, Co-Created, treats the calendar as a tool for empowerment rather than a rigid schedule. She emphasizes that while quick decisions and written updates often suffice, the drive for maximum efficiency can stifle the curiosity and debate necessary for genuine innovation. She reserves the long-form, multi-hour discussions for biannual planning sessions, where the goal is to create space for diverse voices to shape the company’s long-term trajectory.

This nuanced approach places Olson alongside other tech and retail leaders reconsidering the standard corporate cadence. Instagram’s Adam Mosseri has moved toward purging recurring meetings every six months, while Jeff Bezos famously mandates silent, thirty-minute reading periods before diving into complex deliberations. For Olson, the priority remains serving her team by ensuring that when people are in the room, the time spent is intentional, even when that time extends well beyond the standard hour.