205. What is our agreed-upon definition of good governance? (Question #3)

This season, every episode of OMG focuses on a question that directors really need to answer.

OMG is written, produced, narrated and scored by Matt Fullbrook.

 

TRANSCRIPT:

Question #3: What is our agreed-upon definition of good governance? Don’t worry, this episode isn’t just me saying “blah blah intentionally cultivating effective conditions blah.” As much as I like my definition of good governance and find it both useful and empowering, I’m under no illusions that *you* couldn’t come up with something better. Nonetheless, I am highly confident that most directors, executives and governance professionals can’t describe good governance in a way that is both easy to understand and DO-able. And that’s the problem with most of the definitions of good governance that are out there: they don’t give you any idea how to actually get it done! This is also my main gripe with the common temptation to define good governance based on results. As in, I dunno, you know you have good governance when you’ve convinced all your employees to wear funky sunglasses to work every day, or whatever. As if it doesn’t matter if you achieved it by providing free access to irresistibly-funky sunglasses or by blasting people’s workspaces with blindingly bright lights. What I’m saying is that it’s the process that matters! Anyway, if you don’t have a clear, confident and shared definition of good governance, then how the heck do you expect to actually DO good governance? And, if you’re struggling to come up with your own idea, then sure feel free to borrow mine. If you’re having trouble agreeing with each other, then maybe agree to disagree by choosing a “good enough” definition and see what it feels like to live with it for a few meetings. Use it to inform and guide everything from information flow to time allocation to conversation structure to room layout. The worst answer to this question is “we don’t have one.”