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    Reading: On Darwin's finches

    Readings
    My work—if you could call it that, because I don't get paid—entails much reading. Every day of every week, I delve into books, magazines, journal articles and new feeds—all in the name of reading widely and becoming informed. Doctoral research requires it and, as I've come to discover, the quality of my thinking has probably improved as a result.

    Today, my readings included an interesting short piece entitled Darwin's Finches. While I'm no evolutionist, this article did set me thinking about the validity of natural selection and adaptation to one's environment. Peter and Rosemary Grant's work was fairly compelling. It showed that natural events can precipitate small but significant changes within a population. That set off another train of thought—where does natural selection stop? Does it continue through to evolution (apes to humans, as has been speculated by evolutionists), or is natural selection real and evolution simply a theoretical position promoted by those whose worldview excludes the supernatural? Now I'm nudging against a big philosophical question. Better that I get back to my core reading I suspect!
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    Company directors: what are your real responsibilities?

    Governance Management Performance Readings Research Societal Wellbeing
    Two posts on corpgov.net have caught my eye this week:

    Together, these articles present a significant challenge to the corporate governance community, and company directors in particular. To most Boards, the purpose of the company is to achieve growth and to maximise shareholder value, period. But is this narrow focus appropriate? Does it help society, or does it add to its burdens?

    As I read the articles, I found myself thinking about the relationship between economic growth and societal wellbeing. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand that a narrow focus on profit or growth is a rather selfish win/lose strategy. Shareholders win and the rest of us lose. Is that fair? Perhaps Boards should be compelled to take account of wider societal factors as they fulfil their important role. What do you think?
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    Does conflict and governance go together?

    Governance Management Performance Readings Research Strategy
    Earlier today, I read an interesting article posted on the HBR blog site about conflict and governance. The author, Solange Charas, described two kinds of conflict: cognitive (task-oriented) and affective (emotionally-oriented) in her article. She asserted that cognitive conflict is essential in creating value, whereas affective conflict erodes value. Charas' research is consistent with other research which reports that cohesiveness, vigorous debate and creative interaction are hallmarks of a good strategy development process (refs: Levrau & Van den Burghe, 2007; Kerr & Werther, 2008). 

    My point in raising the topic of conflict/debate in the boardroom? Many of the boards that I'm familiar with or have been privileged to observe are devoid of cognitive conflict, despite directors themselves telling researchers that vigorous debate leads to improved decision quality. Discussions tend to be "nice", lest someone offends someone else. But are such genteel behaviours good for company performance? 

    Can I suggest directors need to put their reputations and any affective behaviours to one side, and focus their attention on what they were appointed to do: explore strategic options and make strategic decisions (some of which may be quite contentious), and maximise performance (through the CEO). Perhaps if they do so, and adopt cognitive conflict practices, then we will start to see some serious value being created from the boardroom.
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    Time to "come out"...

    Conferences Governance Performance Phd Readings Research
    Over the past few months, I have been quietly testing some of my doctoral research ideas with a few esteemed members of the academic community. I've also chatted with some practicing directors as well. The discussions have been incredibly valuable, because they have generated a lot of interest and feedback, all of which has enabled me to refine and adjust the research.

    On the strength of the feedback received, I have decided that it is time to "come out" as it were; to begin share my ideas with a wider community. To this end, I have submitted a paper abstract to ECMLG 2013. The abstract has just been accepted, so now I need to prepare a paper and start saving to get to Austria in November. How exciting!

    And the ideas that have generated the interest? Here's a peek: Much of the governance research to date has involved the statistical analysis of large data sets, resulting in correlations between observable variables and rich descriptions. However, no definitive theories to satisfactorily explain how Boards contribute to performance have been produced. Despite considerable effort, researchers appear to have reached an impasse. A new research agenda in required if progress is to be made—one that moves from the study of isolated variables (structure, composition, behaviours) to the holistic investigation of governance itself. My reading of philosophy has exposed critical realism (CR) as an interesting basis for a new agenda. CR rejects the common view that social phenomena (of which governance is an example) are a mass of separable events or attributes.

    When I re-read the literature through a CR lens, several discrete ideas that I've been pondering for some time started to come together into a cohesive picture. It seems that active engagement; an involvement in the development of strategy; and, the making of strategic decisions are somehow potentially significant causal mechanisms that explain how Boards actually contribute to business performance. Next step is data gathering and analysis. If validated, a new theory of governance which explains how Boards contribute to performance will hopefully emerge. Thankfully, I now have a philosophical framework to build upon. Yahoo!

    So, there you have it—my ideas out in the open. Sorry if this summary was tough to read and understand! If however, you are interested in governance matters, and particularly in governance research, and would like to chew these ideas through, please post a reply, or contact me directly.
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    The difference a fortnight makes...

    Conferences Phd Readings Research
    Three weeks ago I was getting a bit grumpy. I'd been battling the rather bureaucratic ethics process for several months and was starting to get worn down. This mandatory component of my doctoral research has taken far longer, and proved to be far more arduous, than expected. I couldn't understand what the problem was, and nor could my supervisors. The research fitted the low-risk criteria and approval was supposed to take two weeks. My supervisors agreed, however the ethics committee saw it differently. In addition, it seemed the committee had no sense of time, with 14 weeks elapsing since the original submission. Apart from continuing to do background reading while I waited, my doctoral research had stalled and I was left twiddling my thumbs.

    Then, on 4 April, the email I'd been waiting so long for arrived. The brief note said the research had been approved. Finally! This was just the news I needed, because on 6 April my wife and I were leaving for two weeks holiday, and I certainly didn't want to spend the time away moping about a process I had no control over. Safe in the knowledge that the research had been approved, I read three books (The Beekeeper's Lament, and the two mentioned here) and quite a few governance articles, and relaxed with my wife and her siblings.

    Looking back, the holiday came at just the right time. The time away enabled me to get my head back together, knowing that the roadblock I had been powerless to break through had been dealt with. Since getting home, two companies have agreed to participate in my research, with discussions underway with a third. Also, I have written an abstract for the ECMLG 2013 conference in Austria, attended a Board meeting, and moved a house-load of furniture ahead of new carpet being laid this week. It's great to be back on track, having cleared the ethics hurdle. What a difference one brief email—and a fortnight to reflect and recharge—makes!
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    Readings: to keep the mind ticking over...

    Readings Societal Wellbeing
    This week I'm on holiday with my wife at Caloundra, on the Sunshine Coast just north of Brisbane, Australia. The weather is supposed to be pleasantly mild at this time of the year, with warm sea-breezes and partly cloudy skies foretelling the easing of the summer heat and the arrival of cooler temperatures. However, this week, the weather is not doing what is it supposed to. We've had passing showers every day until today, when steady rain has been the norm. Fortunately, the temperature is still hovering around 20 deg C. Anyway, wet weather provides a nice benefit: that of relaxing inside with a good book. This week, I've started reading two books. Both have gripped me and caused me to think quite deeply about a few things. I thought I'd share them with you, even though I have not finished reading them yet. 

    Thinking, Fast and Slow (published 2011) is Daniel Kahneman's latest book. It was an impulse-buy in mid-2012, while buying some research books at Amazon, one that has been sitting on my bookshelf since. Snippets from the flyleaf: Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberate, and more logical. Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how ewe can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives—and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble.

    A Long Walk in the Himalaya: A trek from the Ganges to Kashmir (published 2007) was written by Garry Weare, an explorer and writer. Long Walk caught my eye while I was passing the time in a second-hand book store a few days ago. Although I've never been a tramper or trekker as such, I have long harboured dreams of undertaking long journeys on foot, be they pilgrimages like the trek across northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela, or indulgent hikes in Yosemite, Kakadu or Fiordland National Park. While I've visited some of these places, I'm yet to tackle any long journeys as such. Anyway, to Long Walk. This book provides an account of Weare's five-month trek from the source of the Ganges—through valleys and over mountain passes—to Srinagar in Kashmir. On one level, the book is a straightforward travelogue. One another, it provides a rich history of the region. On yet another, it stimulates spiritual and socio-political thought, of the type I've not experienced from reading a book like this before. 

    I'm partway through both books, and not normally wont to make recommendations. But in this case, I'll make an exception. If you are at a loose end, and are looking for something that will stimulate your mind, you could do far worse than read either of these books.