188. I’m on the next flight to be by your side (Condition #36: People’s real lives)

I had a conversation recently with a great friend of mine who’s been on somewhere approaching 3 million different boards. He’s really not sold on my whole vibe when it comes to corporate governance, which is fair and totally fine. He explained a key part of his resistance like this: “Matt, when you’re in a board meeting all you’re thinking about is that Bob’s flight leaves at 6:45 and we have 13 complex agenda items to go, so how are we gonna just get through all of this?” Sure, we’re back to the whole urgency thing again, and it’s super obvious that what my friend described is basically the opposite of effective conditions for making decisions. And this isn’t a knock on him at all. Despite the fact that he’s unconvinced by me, he’s the real deal and then some. And I think he hit on something *hugely* important here. This hypothetical Bob character is a real person with a real life. I know it’s sappy, but the first thing that came to mind thinking about Bob was that he just really misses his spouse or family and that the board totally has his back. “Bob’s been on the road for two weeks. Let’s make sure he gets home on time to take his boo out for a fancy romantic dinner tonight!” And you know what? I’m completely supportive of directors looking out for each other like that. Understanding your peers as full human beings, and being empathetic toward the complexities of their lives and feelings. Hoo boy, that’s the stuff of board legend. But if every board meeting has the life crushed out of it because we’re cramming through all our important decisions just so Bob can fly to Topeka for his next board meeting. That ain’t it, bro. Song recommendation for the sappy version of the Bob story: “Your Side” by the Beths.