It is no secret that disruption, transformation, the need for speed and being ever vigilant to moves in the market are now critical for business survival. But how well are Boards prepared to assess those management initiatives presented to them for approval?
To respond to this challenge, I previously outlined the 10 Questions the Board should ask Projects. These questions provide a structured approach the Board can use to effectively assess strategic proposals.
The next challenge was how to assess management provided information both as part of the initial proposal and ongoing board reporting. To help Directors I outlined the 7 tests when reviewing Board Project Reports.
What has emerged since, in my work with Boards, is to turn attention to the mindset in the Boardroom when presented with a transformational/ disruptive (as defined in THE INNOVATOR’S DILEMMA) proposal. The mindset is not necessarily fixed but can be influenced by subconscious biases and heuristics (as identified in Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman)
To elaborate,
- Is past success/failure defining the lens through which this proposal is being assessed?
- Are you inappropriately accepting the management narrative because it sounds plausible?
- Are you inappropriately confident with your own understanding of the situation/proposal?
- Are you applying SMART TRUST (as defined in The Speed Of Trust)? I.e., is there a good basis to trust in this situation
- Management always provides a success-based business case. Have you applied sufficient attention to the opposite case to that offered by management?
Diversity! Diversity! Is only part of the answer. It requires a level of self-awareness and careful attention to preparing for the proposal provided by management.
Success is the integration of the right mindset, the right information through the right questions and critical assessment of the information presented.
PROJECTS IN THE BOARDROOM is a 2-hour interactive workshop utilising a case study to help Directors make sense of transformational initiatives put to them. It is broken down to getting prepared (be in the right mindset), structured questions to assess the board relevant parts and a framework to more effectively critique management provided information.
