May 10–16th: Life on the road, in a proud republic.
To see earlier pictures: May 1st–2nd, May 3rd–9th.
May 10: Rush hour… late morning in autumnal Melrose Estate
May 11: Watching or hiding—or both?
May 12: Growing ambitions.
May 13: Up or down?
May 14: Uber travel, for point-to-point movements.
May 15: Move—yes, but what, where, and when?
May 16: A colourful interlude, en route home.
I have been based in Johannesburg this week, working with boards and directors in both South Africa and neighbouring countries. What has struck me is their entrepreneurial spirit: their ambition to realise the full potential of the companies they govern. That most are looking beyond compliance-based orthodoxy, for clues to help them get ahead, has been refreshing.
While conversations have been wide-ranging—from board structures and compositions, to enquiries about the Strategic Governance Framework, corporate governance codes, board pack designs and board meeting frequency—one topic has stood out: artificial intelligence.
On AI, everyone wants in it seems, but not necessarily to deploy AI tools and agents directly in the boardroom (although some are). Instead, having heard of my involvement with AI since 1984 (I studied the topic and built an ‘engine’ at university), they wanted to hear my perspective on several macro issues—especially how companies might gain, and possibly even sustain, competitive advantage.
My responses to directors have been fairly candid:
The appeal is great, but so is the hype, so keep Wittgenstein’s aphorism close:
From it seeming to me—or to everyone—to be so, it doesn’t follow that it is so.
These are my thoughts, this week. As I listen, read, and learn, I may change my mind. How do you see the so-called ‘AI-opportunity’ emerging?
May 3rd–9th: A week characterised by movement and thought. What drives you?
To see earlier pictures: May 1st–2nd.
May 3: On the move, under a watchful eye
May 4: No, just no.
May 5: My name is …?
May 6: For what purpose, and when?
May 7: Cables and converters … “life support” while travelling
May 8: Taxi!
May 9: Even disguised, the answer is apparent, n’est-ce pas?
Have you ever wondered who is looking at your website, and why? My new website was published seven days ago (well, a very similar website), so I decided to look at the analytics, to get an idea.
To my astonishment, some 40,600 total visits (page hits) have been recorded over the past seven days, from just over 8500 unique visitors. Extrapolated, that points to over two million page hits per year.
This sounds impressive. I’m not convinced, and closer inspection shows the numbers are not quite what they seemed at first glance. When ‘include Crawlers/Bots’ is de-selected, a clearer picture emerges: the total visitor count drops to 10600-odd. That about three quarters of the traffic to petercrow.com is not by or from real people is good to know. That they are AI-tools and other systems, hoovering around collecting data justifies our investment in appropriate security. That one-in-five visits is from a mobile device suggests our selection of a tool that provides desktop-, tablet-, and mobile-friendly display options—automatically—was a good decision too.
Turning to the ‘real visitors’ now. If one-in-four Unique Visitors are not bots, about 2100 people visited the some part of the site over the past seven days. Some (most?) will have been curious about the new site. But others looked at one or more Musings articles; and some have checked some other aspect of the capabilities and credentials material.
Even if one or two per cent of these ‘real people’ are genuinely interested (20 per week), and ten per cent of these get in touch, my decades-long quest (to provoke candid conversations to help boards can govern with impact) has, probably, been worthwhile. Onward.
Mundane May, a project I decided upon a few weeks ago, is underway. The idea is simple: Take a photograph of an object or scene every day in May—nothing special or flashy—post them with an open mind and see what happens.
Will I become more observant? Will I become more patient? Will it help me become a better advisor, a better husband, or a better member of society? I do not know, but let's see what captures my attention over the month, and go from there.
Each Saturday after today, I'll drop seven pictures.
May 1: onset of Autumn
May 2: life in <64 litres
In recent months, there has been a rising level of interest in Boardcraft. Word is getting out it seems, so a précis is probably timely. Curious? Grab a coffee and read on...
Boardcraft is a term I coined: a governance-focused initiative help boards operate well in practice—not just describe on paper what they are supposed to do. At its core, Boardcraft is about treating board work (that is, corporate governance) as a practical craft to help boards move from a compliance mindset to a performance mindset.
Why is this important? Many boards comply with prevailing statutes and governance codes but they, or the companies they govern, still perform poorly. The underlying problem is a barrier lying in plain sight: one cannot comply their way to performance.
Boardcraft offers a pathway forward for boards wanting to perform well and govern with impact.
The big shift is this: Effective governance is not a product of structures, policies, or independence per se; it emerges from the quality of thinking, interaction, and decision-making in the boardroom. What is more, Boardcraft is not something I dreamt up at a whiteboard or while driving my old car: it is the product of ground-breaking research conducted a decade ago. In essence, it helps boards understand:
Ultimately, Boardcraft is a mindset to help boards improve their judgement, oversight, steerage and guidance; work as a functional group and make great decisions (think: positive board dynamics); and, ultimately, drive high levels of organisational performance. In effect, to govern with impact.
Boards and directors interested to learn about Boardcraft, the Strategic Governance Framework (the underlying foundation), and how to embrace a Boardcraft mindset in practice have several options:
What to learn more? Check this article, and get in touch with your questions. I'm available globally.
PS: The headline picture is not a photo of me; it is an AI-generated image. Pretty good eh?
