To understand where we are going, we must first look at where we have been. Loops are everywhere it seems. They appear in idiomatic speech, as in ‘close the loop‘, ‘keep me in the loop‘, ‘I’m out of the loop‘, ‘let’s loop back around on this‘, ‘they were thrown for a loop‘. (Jargon bingo cards… Continue reading Stuck on Repeat? How ‘Loop Thinking’ Can Save Your Strategy
Tag: accountability
Moral Accounting and Reporting
For many nonprofit organisations, 30 June marks the end of their financial year. Consequently, thoughts now turn to finalising the trial balance, engaging with the auditors, and preparing annual reports. End-of-year is when we close the books, take stock, and reset. It’s also the best time to capture lessons from ethical challenges, identify emerging risks… Continue reading Moral Accounting and Reporting
Goals and Goal-setting Insights
We all engage in goal setting and execution all the time. We do this whenever we form an intention to do something (or not). You would think that it is such a familiar activity that we would all be quite expert at it. Regrettably, it remains challenging for many of us – especially at work.… Continue reading Goals and Goal-setting Insights
Governance ‘Freedoms’ and their constraints
“Art lives on constraint and dies of freedom”[Michelangelo] Paraphrasing Michelangelo, we might also say that the art of governance is catalysed by constraints and lacks focus or coherence when directors are free to do what they want. For those of us who think of governance as a system of controls, it may seem that the… Continue reading Governance ‘Freedoms’ and their constraints
How long is your governance ‘year’?
Need for a key dates calendar Some of the smaller associations and community groups I have worked with have no staff, so volunteer directors and committee members are charged with doing all the work involved in running the organisation. I recently assisted one such group with the establishment of a Governance Committee, and part of… Continue reading How long is your governance ‘year’?
Organisational ‘Archy’-tecture
We have referenced ‘enterprise architecture‘ previously when describing the system ‘layers’ which make up a nonprofit’s ‘system of systems’. The whimsical title of this post seeks to broaden the lens to consider the relationship between organisational structure and functions (including products and services). The term ‘architecture‘ shares linguistic roots with numerous terms used to describe… Continue reading Organisational ‘Archy’-tecture
Creating Value using an integrated (multi-capital) approach
Value creation is a key function of every board and adding value is central to the roles of both directors and senior managers, but what do we mean when we refer to value in this way? The Capitals Coalition is a global collaboration that seeks to redefine value in order to transform decision-making. They recognise… Continue reading Creating Value using an integrated (multi-capital) approach
Are we there yet? Evaluating NFP outputs, outtakes, outcomes & impact
Evaluation – Part 2 Evaluation is one of the central elements in the EDM (Evaluate, Direct, Monitor) Governance Model, but its role in governance (and management) is often obscured by the use of other terms, like ‘problem-solving’ or ‘decision-making’. The importance of evaluation in non-profit governance is highlighted in the extracts from AICD’s NFP Governance… Continue reading Are we there yet? Evaluating NFP outputs, outtakes, outcomes & impact
Sledgehammer or scalpel? Governance capability development
(Part 3 – ‘Duty of Care, Skill and Diligence’ series) “I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.” Abraham Maslow While it may seem obvious that non-profit directors require a set of skills to perform their duties, elections or appointments… Continue reading Sledgehammer or scalpel? Governance capability development
Circles of Control: personal, group and organisational
Since my previous post, I have been discussing with some of my clients the ways in which the ‘circle of control’ concept can be applied at the personal, business unit and organisational levels. This short post arises from those reflections, and can therefore be considered a postscript to the previous one. While the visual metaphor… Continue reading Circles of Control: personal, group and organisational