Calling a meeting without a previously published agenda is a power play. If there's a position of power, it's a microaggression, because no-agenda meetings ofte

Calling a meeting without a previously published agenda is a power play. If there's a position of power, it's a microaggression, because no-agenda meetings often involve very bad news. If there's no position of power, it's an assertion of status (I'm so important that you'll take time out of your day "just to chat".) And the OP has the power, in this case, so he's pushing back against the bullshit and refusing the no-agenda meeting. I'm going to be the ambassador for the programmer tribe here. We don't hate "business guys" and we don't "just want to code, not wanting to be part of the business". Those stereotypes are untrue. We don't want to be part of the business as a subordinate. If you mentor us in the bigger picture, most of us like that. If we're protege to the CEO, damn right we're going to do a good job. If you treat us as fire-and-forget adjunct capacity, we get grumpy and do a shitty job. There are a few programmers who really want to be in the ivory tower (maybe 5%) but most would be happy to work for the business, as an equal/protege, and built out another useful skill set. Second, we don't actually hate all business guys. Their roles are really important. (Well, some of them.) We hate the attitude and the undeserved higher status they seem to get. For example, shitty programmers get fired (without severance) while shitty business guys get to keep $250k+ salaries; if they fail, they get to move around 2 or 3 times and, if they don't work out anywhere, they still get 3-6 months of severance. Second, if you compare pay to intellectual firepower, programmers are underpaid relative to business people by about a factor of 3. (Someone who has the firepower to make $150k as a software engineer is smarter than most non-technical VPs, who make $500k including stock options.) Our issue is with the inequity and the attitude. Good business people are awesome. They're just (sadly) rare and hard to find. Part of that is "our" fault as engineers; we're not great judges of character.