A minefield for the unwary?
From hardly rating a mention in the popular press or polite society fifty years ago, public awareness of directors, boards, and something called 'governance' has blossomed in recent decades, and markedly so since the turn of the twenty-first century. Questionable practices and corporate failures of various kinds have seen boards become subjects of interest and targets of criticism and disdain in the minds of the business media, regulators, and, increasingly, the wider public.
Reputable research suggests directors do themselves no favours: behavioural flaws are commonplace, and many are not as knowledgeable as they believe they are either. What is more, the term that describes the board's work (corporate governance) has become hackneyed and misused, to the point of being invoked as a perpetrator or panacea for all manner of corporate activity and malaise. That many directors do not understand their duties well exacerbates the situation.
While guidance is not in short supply, the multiplicity of conflicting perspectives has left directors confused about their role and contribution. But they carry on.
Rethinking board work
Conceptually, governance is straightforward to comprehend: its definition is stable and core principles universal. However, the practice of corporate governance is inherently complex and dynamic—especially when the incessant march of innovation, effects of disruptive forces, and miscreant motives and behaviours of some directors are considered.
If boards are to fulfil their responsibility well, meaning, to actively take the company into the future in a safe and sustainable manner, the orthodoxy that has dominated the discourse of the past few decades needs to be rethought.
Boardcraft: for better outcomes
If better outcomes are to be achieved, a different approach, even a Copernican change, is necessary. Boardcraft offers exactly that—an holistic approach to help boards govern with impact: one underpinned by a robust framework and doctoral research that explains how boards influence business performance.