What can we learn from board governance reviews - the importance of courage and integrity

“Boards are not comfortable places and they shouldn’t be. The two key qualities of a Board Director are courage and integrity.” – Ian White

Comply and explain, monitor and improve. Ian White shared his experiences of Board reviews, from FTSE100 to smaller charities in WCoMC ‘s latest My Most Interesting... webinar.

My own two guiding principles for organisational governance have always been ‘challenge and support’ whether as a school governor, charity trustee or in a regulatory role. Providing either challenge or support, to fellow board members or exec/ops, requires robust and evidenced argument and may come with a healthy side helping of discomfort. After all, if everyone thinks the same, perhaps no one is thinking very much. 

“The high performance board, like the high performance team, is competent, co-ordinated, collegial, and focused on an unambiguous goal.  Such entities do not simply evolve; they must be constructed to an exacting blueprint.”

For some time we’ve known that diversity is important on boards but it’s not just ‘visible characteristics’. Diversity of thinking (cognitive), background and experience are just as critical to avoid missing perspectives. 

So what makes up an effective board review?

• A clear mandate and scope - the review must be owned by the Chair
• Questionnaires to gather initial data
• Background research on the directors (beyond their PR profile)
• Interviews (all confidential and unattributed) - with directors, advisers, stakeholders and employees (breadth and detail)
• Reviewing the Board’s papers
• Observe the meeting (are people paying attention or doing their email; what’s the culture)
• Write the report - which must be independent, objective and diplomatic (the art of phrasing matters here)

Expertise in a board role is important but so is an outside view. Dynamics and culture matter as does the boards attitude to risk - important if the organisation is to develop and grow and achieve and not just play safe and stagnate. More diverse boards make more effective decisions.

Ian highlighted common themes and observations from his experience of reviews – lack of challenge by board members, too much data and not enough info, meeting overload, understanding (or lack) of business/sector, exec vs non-exec (them and us), skills, lack of succession, lack of diversity. And time commitment- how much do you really need when it hits the fan?

And a big question - The chair’s role is to construct and manage the board but who holds the chair accountable to that?

And significantly, what are the three elements of an effective board?

1. Set the right tone

2. Ask what if questions 

3. Understand the business model, risks and strategy

So to recommendations: Boards need to do more scenario planning and scenario testing, should focus more attention on the key risks (the key things that would shut us down) and balance risk against uncertainty and visibility against strategic distance (don’t get lost in the detail). And they should take heed of reviews.

Is your board in need of a review - the answer is probably yes. Just use the findings wisely.

References: 

• Nadler, Building Better Boards - https://hbr.org/2004/05/building-better-boards 
• Ian White, Why NEDs Need Courage and Integrity - https://www.ianrobertwhite.co.uk/why-non-executive-directors-need-courage-and-integrity-but-shouldnt-hedge-popularity/ 

Use tech but use it well: tech pushers and bright shiny toys – the drugs do work

Civil justice, relies on the application of the skill and knowledge - the capability -of its contributors. 

Having the right tools and technology, the time and space to learn to use those tools well and encouraging the behaviours and actions which underpin their effective use is fundamental but doesn’t happen often enough.

Let’s be clear what we need to use, provide the training and time and learning resources to use it well, in order to enable the greatest support, and let’s iron out the things that don’t work rather than putting up with inadequacies.

The right tool for the right need at the right time. The Knowledge, skills and confidence and application of the learning. A bit like being a good legal advisor.

Not innovation for innovations sake or bright shiny toys from tech pushers . The proper application of what works in a particular environment and the conscious effort to make it work and resolve problems when it doesn’t.

A chef with a blunt knife is dangerous and ineffective. Don’t blunt your value. Sharpen your axe. And use it wisely.

Learn. Be aware. Then decide what are you going to Stop. To Keep. To Start.

Sometimes that needs support and that’s ok. Reach out, don’t struggle through with your blunt axe.

Mushroom picking and the need for monitoring and evaluation (a guest post by Nigel Scott)

How and what we monitor and evaluate at work is important.  We are often so caught up in “doing stuff” that we lose track of our focus on the bigger strategy picture.  But being able to demonstrate progress gives us a sense of achievement, helps us learn and improve, and also supports us raising funds to move forward and do more.

In this blog we reflect on where we are going and why, what the point is of tracking progress , discuss methods of monitoring and evaluating, and what this might mean for you.

Many years ago I was up in the North Western Highlands of Scotland on holiday and decided to head into the forest with a friend to collect mushrooms for supper.  We kitted up with a couple of bags, some lunch, waterproofs (of course!)  and wellies.  Not far inside the forest we found our first chanterelles.  Immediately your eye is drawn to the forest floor, you search for mushrooms, and as you pick the ones you find others appear out of the corner of your eye.  You slowly move towards each new find, moving left and right across the forest floor, pick a few and move on to the next collection.  

After a good half hour we stopped to compare our harvests.  And it was at that point we realised we had no idea where we were.  Deep in the forest it was impossible to tell where we had come from, nor could we get a fix on where North was.  We were lost.  All that time with our noses and eyes focused at ground level on the job at hand had led us astray.

Where are we actually going and why?

It was this story that came to mind recently whilst in conversation about how we get lost in day to day activities.  As organisations we tend to set our strategy, break this down into a series of actions, gather our resources and get to work on the actions.  Sounds similar to mushroom picking right?  But other than completing the action (getting a bag full of mushrooms), we tend not to:

• Reflect on the process we have been through

• Identify what worked and did not

• Acknowledge what might do it better next time and how

• Recognise the difference we have made (or not)

So you could say we don’t really know where we are (like stopping in the forest after picking mushrooms) and experience disorientation as a result.  Yes we know that we have completed a bit of the strategy (we have the mushrooms collected for supper), but we haven’t linked  the actions we have taken back to the strategy (how do we get home to cook supper), nor do we identify how what we have done has improved us as an organisation. 

At a personal level, introspection, self reflection and contemplation are all activities we tend not to give enough time for as we are busily pulled in many directions. Yet this concept of deliberately slowing down and reflecting on what has happened, how it went and what we have got from it, is not a new concept.  Some researchers make links to it as far back as the early Buddhist teachings.  More recently it has been used in university teaching (and study) for many years in the form of “reflective practice” - the ability to reflect on one's actions so as to engage in a process of continuous learning , improvement and development.  It is also found in coaching and mentoring, in the health professions and a growing number of professional bodies include reflective learning within their continuous Professional Development frameworks.

Monitoring and evaluation is, if you will, the use of reflective practices in an organisational sense and context.  And one of the reasons we tend to shy away from it is that it can be made overly complex.  Wikipedia’s definition is certainly enough to put most people off!  But, recognising that our imperfect world of management and business strategy is as much subjective as it is objective, art as much as science, it is possible to set suitable criteria to assist in evaluating projects, tasks, training, strategic plans and so on. 

Why track progress in the first place?

There are a number of reasons for us to monitor and evaluate, including:

• Checking money has been spent wisely - both effectively and sustainably

• Providing proof of achievement (and highlighting success) to the board and funders

• Clarifying changes expected as a result of a project 

• Confirming readiness to move to a next stage

• Identifying learnings for general sharing

• Exposing issues affecting organisation success

• Directing specific organisation focus and effort

Monitoring and evaluation is also an implicit part of becoming a “Learning Organisation” .  However, it is worth noting that there is no value in simply collecting data for the sake of it.  Be clear why you are tracking what you are tracking and establish the purpose and benefit for using the information gained.  Know at the outset how (and why) the evaluation data will be used by the organisation.

Methods of evaluation

The methods you use to evaluate are highly dependent on what you want to evaluate and to what purpose.  Any method that gives you the information you are looking for is suitable.  These may include:

• Financial measurements

• Measurements against objectives set at the outset

• Other measurements, ratios, statistics

• Interviews with staff, clients, suppliers

• Questionnaires

• Observations

• Action plans

Some organisations use a balanced scorecard approach to capture information which evaluates the overall performance of the organisation on a monthly basis, this brings together the key measures as determined by the organisation in four perspectives:

              Financial – Customer - Internal Processes -  Innovation and learning

But there are shortcoming to this approach as it tends to rely on statistics, removing the human input from staff, customers and suppliers.  This eliminates observation, subjective comment and views – all of which can provide much needed feedback to confirm effectiveness or otherwise. 

Choice of data 

If you choose to rely on statistics alone then the choice of which statistics and how they are collated can have a fundamental effect (bias) on the accuracy of your data.  For all of the data you choose consider ease of access, relevance, how the data is collected, who is collecting it, what questions are being asked, validity, what is best collected quantitatively or qualitatively, how you wish it to be presented, and frequency of collection. For monitoring and evaluation to be maintained, above all else ensure that you select an approach which is simple to put into practice, easy to understanood, and able to give clear information.

What this might mean for you

It’s fun to collect mushrooms, it might not matter if you lose a few hours in the forest and you’ll probably end up with a tasty snack. But is that enough? If you have an organisational strategy, don’t you want to know how well you’re achieving it (and possibly your funders too). Do you want to know what it is you do that makes the biggest, most effective, most value for money (not just cheapest) difference? Don’t you want to be able to say how great your work is, what it costs and why someone should support/fund it? 

If you do, and you’re feeling a little lost despite your appealing bag of mushrooms, then fear not, we can probably help. Reach out and see if we can help you Build Back Better (and avoid the Deadly Nightshade on the way).

More and better access to justice – a few thoughts (Summer 2020)

It’s that time of year again when I’ve had time and headspace to reflect on big challenges.

I’m passionate about access to justice and for me that means “helping more people get better outcomes which meet their needs” when they have problems which need advice (legal or otherwise).

So I got to thinking about challenges, needs and potential solutions as the waves hit the stones on the beach. It felt like we had systemic challenges not just tactical ones, and definitely not just ones which can be solved by technology (that’s simply one tool in the toolbox)

The key needs for me are:

• Design so we’re clear what we need to do
• Data to ensure we’re addressing the right needs and doing the right thing
• Tools to enable the action
• Change to drive, deliver the outcome and follow through
• Leadership to ensure coordination and sustainability of the results and ensure collectively we do the right things  

Relatively easy to say, a bit more challenging to put together. We need them because:

• We don’t really know what we need
• We’re not clear what works better
• Lack of headspace
• Rushed or non existent design
• Incoherent strategies
• Lack of domain experience and expertise 
• Gaps in coordination with lack of strategic thrust, resource, programme/portfolio management (the difference between doing things right and doing the right things)
• Under investment and funding gaps – too much gets started but delivering not well enough without sufficient punch and impact (capacity and capability)

So we might:

• Start small, bring organisations and initiatives together on defined outputs solving specific problems
• Develop and get behind cohesive activity and strategy
• Provide effective system leadership with real focus, clarity, transparency and outcomes led
• Provide financial resource to do this properly (not half heartedly)

In conclusion, we need (i) coordination, (ii) evaluation, (iii) learning and sharing what works and what doesn’t (honestly, promptly and openly), (iv) action and (v) leadership - the system leadership of doing things better and doing better things to a design which delivers an agreed outcome.

That feels like it will deliver a step change in access to justice. Who's on board?

What do innovation and change consultants read on holiday (and why)?

I made it, dear reader! A nine day sojourn to the South of France and back with eleven hours to spare before quarantine kicked in. But it wasn’t all sun, sand, art, wine and ice cream. For me, holidays are a time to reflect and think, so here is my reading list for Summer 2020.

1. The Parade by Dave Eggers. Humorous, clever writing, strong narrative but boy does it pack a punch at the end.
2. About Looking by John Berger. Thought provoking collection of essays which have stood the test of time. Always insightful and plenty to reflect on.
3. Strategic Acceleration by Tony Jeary. A methodology which does what it says on the tin with useful exercises. Has kickstarted one project already and accelerated a second.
4. The Plague by Albert Camus. It wouldn’t be France for me without at least one Camus. Timely reminder of what happens in pandemics told in the way only Albert can.
5. Transitions by William Bridges. Highlighted to be as a change management book and draws a clear distinction between change and transitions. Moving, thoughtful, emotional and tested me. One key takeaway is that without making time to navigate ourselves through transitions, all change is just ‘rearranging the furniture’. Read it – but be advised it might affect you.
6. It’s Not About You by Tom Rath. Short, punchy and a good reminder we’re here to do more than fulfil our own needs.
7. Man Alone With Himself by Friedrich Nietzche. I do like my philosophy on holiday. Somewhat of a rant in places but suitably thought provoking and inspired some meaningful thinking.
8. Mindful Listening (HBR Emotional Intelligence series). Short, pithy collection of articles on the why and how of effective (active) listening, what it does for relationships and outcomes and why the investment is worth it. Not always new but an important reminder.
9. Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg. Game changer. I love psychology and am a real fan of the value of habits but this was excellent and has caused me to rethink my business model provision. It’s all about the behaviours and they start small, easy and celebratory.
10. Vintage 1954 by Antoine Laurain. My fourth favourite French author (Camus is number one). A delightful read, laugh out loud funny in places and beautifully told. Highly recommended.

So there we go. A mix of style, content and subject but fulfilled many happy hours on the beach, in cafes and apres dinner. Pick one or two and dive in. I promise you won’t regret it.