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    Decimal currency...an example of coping with change

    Artificial Intelligence Boardcraft Capitalism Change Complexity Corporate Governance Effectiveness Leadership Productivity Societal Wellbeing Value Creation
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    Fifty-nine years ago, on 10 July 1967, New Zealand adopted decimal currency. The then Finance Minister, Robert Muldoon, championed the change from pounds, shillings and pence, to dollars and cents. Many older people struggled to make the change. After all, they had had a lifetime of operating within a completely different paradigm. But now, almost six decades on, we take decimal currency for granted. What changed?

    Some people seem to embrace change well, others tend to be much more comfortable with the status quo. Some openly resist change. Society is, by definition, dynamic. Therefore, change is normal and natural. And the way we react/respond to change can have a significant bearing on our quality of life. Time is a factor too. 

    Companies, as are microcosms of society, are not  immune to change either. The emergence of new technologies (think: decarbonisation, AI), expectations expressed by shareholders and stakeholder and activist groups), and competitors, not to mention geopolitical changes and natural disasters, have the potential to completely upend a once-high performing business.

    How do you and the board you serve on cope with change?

    As a board director, are you a pioneer, on the vanguard, championing change initiatives? Or, are you one back, happily embracing changes that others define? Perhaps you are more ambivalent, simply accommodating change when it comes? Or, do you tend to be resistive, because keeping safe and protecting inherent value is more important to you?

    In practice, these mindsets are, to a greater or lesser extent, present at every board meeting. Sanguine-types, who tend to be enthusiastic about new options; driver-types are all about the outcome; guardians, who tend to be detail-oriented and strive to protect what is in place; and, phlegmatics, who want to know everyone is agreeable before moving on.

    That there are differing mindsets is a good thing, for it helps consider change from different perspectives. No board director needs to ‘cope’ alone. But, as with the adoption of decimal currency, the decision itself is not the greatest challenge: after the decision the board needs to  ensure the desired outcome and associated benefits are realised in practice. And that is what differentiates a great board from the rest. Such is boardcraft.

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    Who’s looking at you?

    Accountability Boardcraft Corporate Governance Effectiveness Leadership Monday Muse Performance Research Speaking Engagements Value Creation
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    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.

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    On boardcraft

    Accountability Boardcraft Corporate Governance Decision Making Effectiveness Research Value Creation
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    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...

    B​oardcraft 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:

    • The capabilities, activities and behaviours necessary if boards are to exert influence beyond the boardroom, especially on organisational performance
    • How to make high-quality decisions together
    • How to handle conflict and disagreement
    • How chairs can lead effective discussions
    • The board's role in shaping strategy, not just approving management's proposals

    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:

    • Workshops and board development sessions (half-, full- and two-day options, fully curated)
    • Tailored coaching and mentoring for chairs
    • Governance diagnostics (to assess how well a board functions)
    • Real-world case studies, rather than textbook or theoretical models

    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?

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    Is an elephant [in the room] obscuring our view?

    Accountability Corporate Governance Governance Research Sustainability Value Creation
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    ​The rise of artificial intelligence capabilities over the past 4–5 decades (you read that correctly, not 4–5 months or even 4–5 years) has brought some awkward questions into stark relief.
    • How might AI enable or impair our strategic priorities?
    • Are the data in management reports to the board accurate, and conclusions credible?
    • As directors, we’re supposed to govern with impact. But what matters most amongst the many priorities in the reports from management—and how might we decide?
    • Are the so-called experts that management keeps putting in front of us actually experts, or are they just AI-junkies who have generated content that appears to be informed?
    These questions, and many others like it, highlight an overarching question that has become very real for many directors, more so as the onset of AI-generated content has started to pervade boardrooms, executive suites and beyond:
    The report behind the question brings the problem into stark relief: Many conclusions developed from academic research and peer-reviewed articles may not be reliable. Indeed, many may not be worth the paper (screen) they are written on, despite the seemingly attractive arguments put up by the authors.
    This being the case, how might directors validate the data and reporting in board packs?
    If boards are to govern with impact, they must first ensure the reports they receive are not only accurate but credible. This is a demanding expectation, but it is the baseline. Fortunately, we are not the first people to ponder this matter: This muse explores some of the core considerations.
    The elephant in the room is not AI, per se; it is the directors’ ability to distinguish between what matters and what does not—the signal and the noise.
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    What if a board chair was an animal?

    Corporate Governance Director Development Effectiveness Leadership Management Value Creation
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    “If a high-performing board chair was an animal, what animal would it be?”
    This was the opening question to panelists at a High Performing Chair conversation hosted by the Institute of Directors in Tauranga last evening. I had the privilege of serving on the panel alongside Debbie Ireland and Nathan Flowerday to offer some comments about our experiences chairing the boards of large, medium and smaller organisations. 
    The opening question set the tone for what followed, for it got those in attendance thinking, about the capabilities and attributes of an effective chair, and what distinguishes a good chair from a great one. ​The responses from the panelists were instructive; three different perspectives drawing out critical attributes common amongst highly-effective chairs:
    • Wolf: sometimes out the front, sometimes amongst, and sometimes leading from the rear.
    • Kea: naturally inquisitive, tenacious, asking questions
    • Lion: power by presence, overseeing, exercising strength when needed
    Panelists went on to respond to a wide range of questions from both the moderator and the floor, covering such matters as meeting management, chair–chief executive relations, communications, tenure, balancing priorities, handling crises, continuing development, and strategic decision-making. 
    Thanks to Brian Staunton, for your expert moderation of the panel, and the Institute, for hosting the conversation. ​I came away more well-informed than before, and hope those in attendance did too.
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    Preparing for board meetings: how?

    Accountability Artificial Intelligence Corporate Governance Decision Making Director Development Governance Value Creation
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    The ways board directors prepare for board meetings is changing. Gone are the days when most directors simply turn up for the meeting, open the supplied packs and rely on their instinct as they sit through presentations by management (read: work it out on the fly). Most directors these days are well-intentioned, having diligently read papers before the meeting (having received them via a portal tool, PDF stack or thick package of printed materials). Some of these directors augment their reading with additional enquiries, in an effort to fill in blanks or formulate suitable questions to ask during the meeting. Though a small coterie still rely on their instinct to listen carefully and discern in real-time (read: work it out on the fly, during the board meeting), the world is moving on, and rapidly so. The emergence of AI assistants is proving a boon for smart directors: they are embracing a new generation of tools to enhance their preparation—on the basis that better preparation is an antecedent of better decisions. 
    Preparation takes time, of course, and many directors say,  "It'd be fine if I had the time." My response is curt: "Given the duties you owe, and the importance of governing with impact, what else might be more important than preparing well?"
    In the spirit of collegial learning, how useful are Shekshnia and Yakubovich's insights, and how are you using AI to augment your board meeting preparations (if at all)? Please comment below.