How to get a board of directors past “we’ve always done it that way”
The unnamed association executive who writes the View from the Corner Office blog has an interesting post about a recent board meeting that managed to change the "if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it" mindset that plagues so many association boards–and association meetings:
the board hunkered down and figured out how to lop a day off our annual meeting. Annual meeting schedules are hallowed ground, proverbial sacred cows, that-whose-structure-is-not-to-be-toyed-with. Yet everyone agreed our meeting lasts too long and that no one has time to invest any more, certainly not the younger set and us oldsters no longer have the stamina. This board literally overnight came up with a draft schedule that makes a lot of sense, focused in on the important events, and cut out a lot of extraneous activities. It’s not final yet, of course, but this is huge progress.
She adds that, "Boards are often scared to engage in high level strategic thinking, but I’ve found that they are hungry to do so. The key is to create an environment where everyone has responsibility in the stake of a set of outcomes." Read her post to find out how this meeting accomplished that goal.
The unnamed association executive who writes the View from the Corner Office blog has an interesting post about a recent board meeting that managed to change the "if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it" mindset that plagues so many association boards–and association meetings:
She adds that, "Boards are often scared to engage in high level strategic thinking, but I’ve found that they are hungry to do so. The key is to create an environment where everyone has responsibility in the stake of a set of outcomes." Read her post to find out how this meeting accomplished that goal.
