164. Don’t ever go with the flow. Be the flow. (Condition #13: cadence)

You know when you’re learning something new like a sport or a musical instrument or a language or game or whatever? Sometimes it just clicks right away for some reason and you’re like “UGGGGH can we please just move faster! I’m ready!” But then sometimes it feels more like “wait, stop, stop, stop…WHAT IS HAPPENING? I’m really not getting this. I need to slow down.” And if you’re learning in a group, usually there’s at least one person at either end of that spectrum, both of which are pretty frustrated. That’s how it feels sometimes to make decisions in groups. Especially if we’re not intentional and clear in advance about the proposed cadence. Imagine you’re a CEO who’s spent the past six months eating, sleeping, breathing, digesting all of the elements of a potential new path. You walk into a boardroom expecting the board to sit back, listen attentively, smile broadly, vote unanimously in favour of your proposal, and give you a standing ovation. But it doesn’t go as planned. A board member has a question. Maybe it’s a question that you’ve already considered a million times and feel a bit frustrated that the directors don’t just trust that you’ve thought about it. Maybe five directors have questions just like that one. Maybe you’re starting to get really frustrated. Maybe the meeting ends and you look for a governance consultant online and say to them “my board is SOOOO annoying! They’re always diving into the weeds and make everything so slow!” And maybe that governance consultant will say to you, “let’s imagine ourselves in the board’s position. How might you have involved them earlier and more often to bring them on the journey with you?” Cadence matters. There may not be a perfect balance, but being intentional gets you most of the way there.