There are lots of reasons why boards get fixated on policies and by-laws and other procedural guardrails. One of the most common and, frankly, justifiable reasons is that there’s just. so. much. Stuff. To. Do. So much stuff. Even just the list of backward-oriented compliance and oversight tasks seems endless and is *so* time consuming. Most organizations I know wouldn’t even permit themselves the privilege of *dreaming* of a board meeting that runs on time, let alone one that built in a bit of wiggle room for something extra. The time crunch is real. Another word for time crunch: “urgency”. So much to do. And even when things seem like they might be getting better, it never lasts. It’s like adding a new lane to a highway: we know it’s a bandaid, and *SUPER* expensive, but solving the actual problem just feels too hard. I get it. In fact, I decided I need to dedicate the next handful of episodes to stuff that’s related to this urgency issue. By the time we get to episode 187, we may actually have identified the real cause of the problem here. You know, like the boardroom urgency version of under-investment in changing driving habits, mass public transit and infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists. Back to the policies and by-laws thing, though: in my experience, boards often feel like having lots of well-defined rules is a good way to make meetings and decisions more efficient. Here’s one jerk’s opinion: rules that define who should be making what decisions and when: those are your friend. Rules that try to define HOW those people should be making decisions: generally not going to work out the way you think. Real life is just too messy.
BONUS: Why do corporate governance consultants mostly suck?
BONUS: Good governance is woke - and that's good news for everyone
BONUS: Good corporate governance does not cause good corporate performance
BONUS: What corporate governance resources are *really* missing (plus, an analysis of the top 500 albums of all time)
BONUS: Good governance is basically about feelings (long story alert!)
202. Season 4 Finale
201. I’m so fancy (Condition #49: Formality)
200. None of your business (Condition #48: Side conversations)
199. Can we talk for a minute? (Condition #47: Facilitation)
198. Another brick (Condition #46: Education)
197. People, helping people (Condition #45: Consultants)
196. Stakes is high (Condition #44: Risk)
195. Talkin’ ’bout PRACTICE (Condition #43: Practice)
194. I’ve been everywhere (Condition #42: Geography)
193. Get on up (Condition #41: Physical movement)
192. No rest for the wicked (Condition #40: Taking breaks)
191. Silence is golden (Condition #39: Sound/Noise)
190. ”Did I do that?” (Condition #38: Catchphrases)
189. Too much of something is bad enough (Condition #37: Subtraction neglect)
188. I’m on the next flight to be by your side (Condition #36: People’s real lives)
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Commercial Edge: Unleash the Power of People
The emPOWERed Half Hour
HCI Leadership Revolution
Human Capital Leadership
The Power of Music Thinking
BusinessWISE
The Home Service Expert Podcast