239. What's one thing we do that's completely useless?

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 #37: What’s one thing we do that’s completely useless? This is probably the most self-evident question in the entire season. It’s true that baked into this question is an assumption that there’s at least one thing your board does that is, in fact, completely useless. As in, it adds no value to anyone in any way. Maybe it’s a routine agenda item that’s lost its purpose over time. Maybe it’s the way people put up their hands only to say “yes, I agree with what the last person said, and let me tell you why for the next five minutes.” Maybe it’s the way you use Robert’s Rules. Maybe it’s the fact that the board insists that management create reports or other information that we know nobody cares about or will read. Maybe it’s just your tendency to over-complicate or over-simplify things. Or to ask too many questions, or not enough questions. Or to be too quick to criticize management or too quick to let them off the hook. I don’t know. It could be anything, really. Whatever it is, I know there’s SOMETHING. And, sure, “useless” is probably subjective. Different board members might have different opinions and you may never completely align. I just sometimes like framing questions in extremes because it can be easier to come up with useful ideas. Like, this question would be harder to answer if it were “what’s something you might do that could kinda be a little bit less useful than maybe some people probably wish it were?” I mean, we can all come up with a million unhelpful answers to *that* question. Hey, and bonus points if you have the guts to invite your executives to participate in this conversation.