230. How many of us would benefit from an occasional change in scenery?

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 #28: How many of us would benefit from an occasional change in scenery? In episodes 192 and 193 of OMG I talked about the importance of breaks and physical movement. These are not trivial nice to haves – they are critical to making sure that people are cognitively engaged and comfortable – both of which we can all agree are important to board effectiveness. Speaking of trivial, it’s maybe a bit too easy to trivialize breaks and think of them just in terms of gaps in our agendas for people to do with what they please. Mostly to grab a coffee and get caught up on email for 15 minutes. But we all know that that’s no break at all. It’s like if I giftwrapped your overflowing work phone and presented it to you like the greatest gift in the world. No, breaks are different from simple agenda items. If you could design the ideal break – one with no constraints, anything is on the table – what would it look like? We might all come up with something different, but I suspect almost everyone’s dream break would include a change in scenery. Maybe you’re out on a walk or sitting on the beach or up on a roof or on your bike or whatever. And the thing about a change in scenery is that you don’t even need a break to get it done. You could hold different parts of your board meeting in different rooms or have a quick walk and talk or even just play musical chairs. So, how many of us would benefit from an occasional change in scenery?