“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
Tag: decision-making
Juggling Cats, Chainsaws, & Bowling Balls
Leadership roles often requires a capacity to deal with multiple challenges. Consequently, we need to be able to share our ‘attention budget’ between various roles, functions, priorities, and tasks. Leaders as Jugglers The juggling metaphor is sometimes used to suggest the dexterous handling of these multiple demands. Each metaphoric ‘ball’ is given its due, and… Continue reading Juggling Cats, Chainsaws, & Bowling Balls
Divergent Thinking a Pre-requisite for Convergent Thinking
Whether we call it analysis/synthesis or differentiation/integration, we swap iteratively between divergent and convergent thinking while undertaking most governance and management tasks. While divergent thinking is often associated with informal and creative processes, it plays a crucial role in the formal and structured context of decision-making by directors and managers. We can’t carry out effective… Continue reading Divergent Thinking a Pre-requisite for Convergent Thinking
Counting What Matters: using non-financial accounting
Einstein’s observation that “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted” rings true for most nonprofit leaders. This is not to dismiss the importance of responsible financial management, but rather to acknowledge that there is more to governing a nonprofit than staying ‘in the black’. Key non-financial metrics… Continue reading Counting What Matters: using non-financial accounting
“The (mind) map is not the territory”
Alfred Korzybski‘s famous quote ‘the map is not the territory’ reminds us that an abstraction or a reaction is not the thing itself. The header chart above alludes to the situationally determined nature of thought patterns. We sometimes describe thoughts as occurring in strings, streams, clusters, or constellations – like mind maps. Thoughts are connected… Continue reading “The (mind) map is not the territory”
“Ask a silly question …
… and you get a silly answer”. You have to ask a sensible question to earn a sensible response. My previous post argued that there is a set of criteria by which we can judge the quality of questions. It may not be immediately obvious to readers of that post that the same set of… Continue reading “Ask a silly question …
Quality Question Quest
A recurring theme of this blog has been the art of question framing. Question types, the skills required to ask them, along with various purposes for which they may be considered, have been the subject of earlier reflection and suggestions on this blog. See especially ‘A Question of Skillful Questioning‘. This post takes up the… Continue reading Quality Question Quest
Doorways, Gateways, Passages, & Portals of Change
A common theme encountered in discussions with my mentees concerns career progression. Sometimes the starting point for that discussion is a general sense of dissatisfaction with circumstances at their current workplace or in their current role. When this becomes evident I am prompted to caution them against moving away from the problem in preference to… Continue reading Doorways, Gateways, Passages, & Portals of Change
Combating Conflict: Negotiating Interests
The ‘view from the balcony’ was recently offered as a perspective that could assist with the resolution of conflicted positions during negotiations. Further reflections on this theme are offered here. Types of Conflict Illustrating the diversity of matters we may find ourselves conflicted about, the partial typology below offers just five conflict types for each… Continue reading Combating Conflict: Negotiating Interests
Elevating perspectives
The view from a high (or higher) vantage point has long been linked with strategic thinking and action. While often used in a military context, there is also a long tradition of symbolically linking elevated positions with elevated thinking about much broader concerns. A selection of symbolic references to various ‘elevated perspectives’ is offered in… Continue reading Elevating perspectives