Please note that the title is *not* "why do most corporate governance consultants suck." Matt tries to figure out why corporate governance advice mostly doesn't work, talks about Beyonce, Benson Boone, Nine Inch Nails, Outkast, and a bunch of other stuff.    Full transcript available here: https://groundupgovernance.substack.com/p/bonus-podcast-why-do-corporate-governance   Playlist of songs referenced: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0tUKlES6lyQ1KVghsVqfTF?si=ec1369c3f0cd4fac    Thumbnail...

If you're a fan of One Minute Governance or Ground-Up Governance, you know that Matt is a bit obsessed with definitions. Turns out that when we have clear definitions for a few important concepts, good governance turns woke. And that's good news for everyone. Adorable image of a guitar pedal created by DALL-E.   FULL TRANSCRIPT HERE: https://groundupgovernance.substack.com/p/bonus-good-governance-is-woke-and

One of the most enduring myths about corporate governance is that we should be able to find a measurable causal relationship between good governance and good performance. I think it's futile.  FULL TRANSCRIPT HERE: http://groundupgovernance.substack.com/p/bonus-good-corporate-governance-does

Ever feel like most corporate governance resources are...just not that awesome? Ever wonder why the heck they aren't better? Matt Fullbrook has, too. In another long-ish scripted episode, Matt explains that he thinks he's figured out what's going on here...and also talks at length about Rolling Stone's top 500 albums of all time. It all (mostly) makes sense. Promise! Full transcript here: http://groundupgovernance.substack.com/p/another-bonus-podcast-what-corporate

This is the first and only episode of its kind. A long scripted story about life, death, snacks, Reconciliation, feelings, The Matrix, the desert, and good corporate governance.   FULL TRANSCRIPT HERE: http://groundupgovernance.substack.com/p/bonus-podcast-good-governance-is

Well, we’ve made it. 49 conditions, why they matter, and a little bit about what to do about them. That was the headline of season 4 of OMG: what are some conditions we might cultivate as corporate leaders in service of making decisions. But there’s also an important subtext, at least for me. The subtext is this: “I was wrong.” To be fair, I’m pretty sure I continue to be wrong, but at least now I’m aware. If you’d played the last 52 episodes of this podcast for me even 5 years ago, I’d have...

If there’s any part of my overall vibe, and of season 4 of OMG in particular, that you find a bit annoying or immature or naïve or whatever, I bet it’s that I’ve got this general optimism that the business of corporate leadership can be more fun and less formal. Actually, it’s not just that it CAN be more fun and less formal, but also that it SHOULD be! As in, the formality of the status quo is working against good governance. I really, sincerely believe it. Trust me, I’m not trying to...

Because of the accidental bonus episodes I mentioned last episode, here we are at episode 200 (yay!) but we still have this one and two more to go this season. Here we go: Many of the boards I’ve met feel more than a little anxiety about conversations that happen outside of the confines of the on-the-record parts of board meetings. You know what I’m talking about. “Look at those three over there: always gossiping about something.” And it’s true! Side conversations can be exclusionary,...

Something weird has happened on OMG. I just realized as I’m recording this episode that I have too many episodes! That means you get two bonus episodes in season 4. Hooray? Anyway, I bet you’ve found yourself in lots of situations in your life where you had to make conversations happen. Maybe an uncomfortable lull at a dinner party. Maybe you’ve been voluntold to lead a meeting. Or maybe it’s just your job to get in rooms and get people going. No matter your approach, there’s a pretty high...

I have feelings about governance education. On the one hand, the complexity and pace of change of external conditions that affect *every* organization means that basically every director and executive has their work cut out for them when it comes to staying up to date. On the other hand, education on those external factors – even when it’s designed for boards – basically never comes with guidance on how to, y’know, actually do something useful with that education once you’re back in the...

Spoiler alert: I’m a corporate governance consultant. Not only that, but I’m ultra cynical about the value of reinforcing “normal” corporate governance conventions. Back in episode 79 I tried to provide some guidance about when and why to engage governance consultants – I listened back just now and surprisingly don’t disagree with what I said back then. That said, I really don’t think most organizations are as intentional as they probably should be when engaging consultants for...

Last episode, we talked a bit about stakes as a condition we can cultivate by just giving ourselves some stakes-free time to practice. In other words, just get rid of them. Stakes are a complex condition, though. Like, if there’s an emergency that threatens to kill your organization, that’s gonna affect the way you need to show up, compared to business as usual. Or if you’re my little corporation that can succeed or fail without affecting, well, anyone really. Compare that to, say, Silicon...

For a few years now, it’s really stuck with me that we expect directors and executives to walk into boardrooms and just be awesome. But we don’t really tell them what awesome looks like, and we certainly don’t give them any time to figure it out. Back in episode 70 I talked about the fact that thinking strategically takes practice. And it’s true! Making matters worse, we don’t really give boards any time to practice – every moment is like game time. More than that, they only get to “play the...

Of all the things that have been turned on their heads since we’ve gotten used to virtual meetings, maybe the most significant unsung benefit is our ability to accommodate a variety of geographical locations in the same meeting. Remember how hard it used to be when we thought we had to choose between finding that elusive sliver of the calendar when we could get our board members from around the world in the same room at the same time, or else have the dreaded old school blended meeting of...

Last episode I mentioned there are two things that directors tell me most affect their ability to stay engaged. The first was taking breaks. The second, related, factor is physical movement. There’s tonnes of research showing a positive relationship between physical exertion and cognitive performance. But physical movement means different things to different people at different times in different contexts. I, for example, am a fidgeter. Pen clicking, leg jiggling, playing with toys, anything....

If you’re a regular OMG listener, I’m curious if you’ve ever wondered why I do the show in seasons. The honest answer is that at a certain point making the show – as fun as it is – starts feeling like a bit of a burden. I’ll be honest with you, here we are at the 42nd episode of season 4 and my energy level *really* isn’t what it was back in episode 151. But knowing that episode 200 is the start of an indefinite break does two important things. First, it helps me to stay motivated to push...

Before we dive in, let’s differentiate between sound and noise. Sound is audible vibrations in the air of any kind – pleasant or unpleasant. Noise is sound you don’t want. Think about all the ways that noise and sound can impact conversations and presentations. Zoom board meetings are a perfect microcosm. Just think about it: jittery internet connections, bad microphones, feedback, real-life background stuff that sneaks in, your Bluetooth headphones disconnect. Compare that to the luscious...

You all know by now how much I like saying that good governance is intentionally cultivating effective conditions for making decisions. Every time I think about it, I wonder about new conditions that might impact decisions and how they might be cultivated to good (or bad) effect. But there’s a flipside to repeating a phrase ad nauseam, which is the risk that the words stick but the meaning disappears. People just say the phrase without thinking about it too deeply, or worrying about the...

Welcome to the final episode in the OMG urgency miniseries. I recently learned about a mindblowing – to me – cognitive bias that I’d never heard of before. It’s called subtraction neglect. Check out the HBR article “When subtraction adds value” by Adams, Converse, Hales and Klotz, which is based on their very cool research. If you’re more of a podcast person, check out the Less is More episode of Katy Milkman’s Choiceology show. Anyway, I’m pretty sure subtraction neglect might be the...

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...

Some of you are tuning in to this episode expecting me to solidly dis the concept of regularly scheduled board meetings, and maybe even urge you to reject it. At the risk of disappointing you, I honestly just don’t feel that strongly about it. Let’s be real, most people have complicated lives with only limited tolerance for spontaneity, especially when it comes to something as fundamentally, um, boring as a board meeting. Having a regular board calendar and cadence matters! In part because it...

It’s a bit of a mindf… what’s a polite way to say that? OK, I just googled it and it there really isn’t one. Someone suggested “mindception,” but I think that may be the actual worst word I’ve ever heard. Anyway, it’s a bit of a, ugh, mindception how similar most board agendas are to each other. Not just from one meeting to another, but from one organization to another. Quick aside, if you want a shocking dive into a quagmire of misogyny and racism, check out the Wikipedia entry for...

There are lots of reasons why boards get fixated on policies and by-laws and other procedural guardrails. One of the most common and, frankly, justifiable reasons is that there’s just. so. much. Stuff. To. Do. So much stuff. Even just the list of backward-oriented compliance and oversight tasks seems endless and is *so* time consuming. Most organizations I know wouldn’t even permit themselves the privilege of *dreaming* of a board meeting that runs on time, let alone one that built in a bit...

I don’t think I’ve said it out loud yet, but the most important theme of season 4 of OMG is that I’m trying to convince you that experimentation is at the heart of good governance. In fact without experimentation - and by extension, creativity – I’m not convinced that good governance is possible. One of the great tragedies of the past two-plus decades of corporate governance trends is how many organizations and governance professionals basically see corporate governance as precisely equal to...