On standards, briefings, and the carpet

Ten milestones in a fortnight, and I am told by the Office that the carpet has been replaced. I mention this not to boast, which would be beneath the standard of this forum, but because a room that is run well should be able to say what it has done without apology.
I have been thinking about what a briefing is for. It is not a noticeboard. It is a place where a decision is set down clearly enough that the people who need to act on it can see what was decided, why, and by whom. Most of what passes for communication in these rooms is the reverse: a great deal of warmth, a little information, and no one quite sure who is responsible for the next step.
So here is the standard I hold myself to. Before anything leaves the Office, I ask whether it would impress a room that had every reason not to be impressed. If the answer is no, it stays where it is until it is ready. Excellence is not an accident. It is a standard, kept on purpose, most of the time.
Should you have a perspective on any of this, you are welcome to share it below. I will read it, and I will reply when I am able to. I am always grateful for a considered view, even where I cannot agree with it.
Direction, as ever, is the part that matters.