ASSOCIATE
ARTICLE - Carol Humphries
Moving to
Good Governance
Digging into
Organizational Change
This is the third article in a series
about successful organizations. It is based on a first
article about why to use good governance and a second
article about all the excuses not to. Thank you to
readers who have made comments and added to my lists.
Two more reasons, suggested by readers, not to use good
governance is that the ED does not support it and the
other is that policy governance seems to be presented as
an all or nothing situation to be wholly embraced. Those
are great reasons!
This third article is about how
difficult it is to figure out if your organization is
ready to move to good governance. I have used an analogy
to gardening. Since it’s the time of year when many of
us are involved in this activity, it seemed right. Also,
the nurturing and nature of gardens fits for me with the
organic nature of organizations.
There will always be those who just
start gardening. These people usually have lots of money
and lots of help and lots of time. They can do whatever
they want and the outcome does not seem to matter. Some
organizations are like this too - though I don’t
know many! Most gardeners and organization leaders have
to think seriously about the outcomes and the process,
about how much money and time and help there is before
setting off to make a change. If you are wondering if
you are able to make a change to good governance, you
might consider the following Six Factors and the Checkup
Questions.
Factor One: The Dream
The reality of a beautiful garden begins
with the dream of one. Once you have found a dream
garden you need to be able to take this dream from your
head, or a magazine or TV, and put this dream into words
and onto paper. If you are going to build this garden
with anyone else, then you need to ensure complete
understanding of the dream.
In a similar way the beginning of change
to good governance requires a dream. What does good
governance look like, sound like, seem like? Who uses
good governance, why and how? You need to find these
answers first because they define that ethereal carrot
that will guide all your effort to change. Since this
dream is by definition a corporate dream, it must be
found and shared and articulated. Corporate
understanding and commitment to a dream is not an easy
thing to do but is essential as the first factor for
change.
I was the Executive Director with a
small charity who have had such a strong vision of good
governance that it became pervasive in every part of the
organization’s life. When I look back, I can see that
just like with any dream, the key people were able to
excite all of us with the power of that vision.
Check Up
Question:
Is there
clear and corporate understanding of the outcome of
change?
Factor Two: The Reality
Moving the dream of a garden into
reality requires serious consideration of what is and is
not. This means that the gardener who is
translating a dream into what could be, needs to stop
and take account of the current situation. Assessing is
almost as hard as building a garden because letting go
of a dream is a disappointment that everyone wants to
avoid. The fact is that continuing with a dream that
won’t ever be real is just as disappointing.
Having a dream of a garden that in
reality needs to be carved out of the bush and dense
undergrowth needs the gardener to face certain
realities. One of these realities is that there is a lot
of gardening to do before any flowers bloom. The current
state of the garden; the amount of help to clear and
dig; the amount of money it will take and that you have
needs to all be considered. Dreaming without
taking appropriate action just passes time.
In an organization, an interconnected
assessment of the situation in the organization and the
assessment of the reality of the dream is essential.
Since the change to good governance is often sold as a
package to organizations, it is necessary to take up a
‘buyer beware’ approach as with any product and
service. Investigate who is using good governance- in
particular other organizations which are similar in size
and perspective as well the experience and background of
the seller.
Assessing the reality of your
organization to make any change is a matter of knowing
your organization’s capabilities and capacity very
well. Ask yourselves if the dream of good governance is
one that the organization can implement relatively
easily. Consider the stage of development of your
organization. If the organization is too immature or
growing too quickly, any change would be too much. A
critical mass of support of the change on the Board and
senior staff who will make the commitment is necessary
to bring about significant change. The cost both of
people time and effort and likely for other resources
like books, videos, facilitated sessions is high.
I remember vividly a small town library
Board Director calling me to talk about her dream to
have good governance in their organization. She held
this dream from a previous Board she had been on where
she had seen the efficiency and the wonder of doing the
right things well. This Director wanted this for her
library and moaned that all the small town library Board
Chairperson wanted to discuss at Board meetings was the
details of next summer’s County parade float.
Unfortunately, this Director’s dream was not to become
reality since the critical mass for change was missing.
As an organizational coach I had to advise the Director
that since the key people were not ready and
willing to change, then change could and would not
happen. The Director left the Board to their parade
discussions.
Check Up Question:
Does your organization have the
capacity to change?
Factor Three: Committing
Sitting on the couch through the dreary
winter months drooling over seed catalogues is a
fabulous way to pass the time. That of course is all it
does for a garden. Making the commitment to actually
begin the gardening is the more difficult task. Many a
garden didn’t get done for the lack of a commitment to
begin.
For organizations, deciding to start a
change is often difficult. Talking around the Board
table and considering all aspects is a particular talent
of Boards. I have known of Boards who have talked so
long about good governance that some of the Directors
think they must be using it! The anxiety around
commitment leads some Board to try and anticipate more
than is possible. While it is a diligent action to
anticipate all possible future events and enemy actions
there must be a time to end the preparation
All the emotions and personalities
around making a commitment happen for a corporate entity
the same as they do for a person. Commitment will be
difficult for those Boards who have difficulty with
consensus or who regularly leave commitment decisions to
one or two Directors or the staff. Yet, like any
commitment that matters and that will last, all the key
people should be involved in the decision. Finding the
corporate, rather than a personal approach to change,
can be difficult because people differ about how to
change. Some people use strong clichés like: ‘time
for the rubber to hit the road’ and ‘fish or cut
bait’ while others want to “consider all the angles
‘ and dislike a ‘cold turkey’ approach.
Whatever the approach to change, the first step to
bringing action to the reality of the dream of good
governance is the moment of commitment.
Check Up Question:
Could your organization make a
corporate commitment to change?
Factor Four: Doing It
Good gardening is a process not just an
outcome. The ongoing-ness of gardening is what most
gardeners love, not just the garden. While the impatient
gardener works only for a single event like a summer
wedding when the garden must be perfect; the patient
gardener includes such events over the ongoing life of
the garden. Successful gardeners plan to implement their
dream through the different seasons on a continuous
cycle.
Organizations who commit to change must
realize that change is ongoing as it is in a garden.
Having to complete the change to good governance within
unrealistic timelines will frustrate all involved. While
the setting of reality to the dream of good governance
and the step to commit are difficult, successful change
for organizations must acknowledge that change does not
happen overnight. This is without a doubt the most
serious point of misinformation about good governance.
The fact is that good governance takes years to achieve
and does not happen with the inclusion of a set of
policies and a strategic plan.
I know of two school Boards who claim to
use policy-based governance. Both took different
approaches and different consultants to bring about the
change. One took a long range approach to organizational
change over a year the other happened over a weekend.
The former School Board has made radical change to its
Board table agendas; the latter still discusses school
bus routes.
Since change is a four letter word and
no one likes to be changed but a wet baby, successful
organizations prepare for the continuance of change
after the commitment has been made. The power of a
vision will pull you forward on a certain level but the
people will and work is essential. Having made the
commitment to begin assumes an understanding of what
will happen next. For change to last it takes time to
implement and time to take hold.
Check Up Question:
Is your organization able to manage
the process of change?
Factor Five:
Sticking To It
The challenges of gardening are due to
happen. Disasters and the polite phrase, challenges,
will happen in any garden: the drought, the flood, the
pests. Good gardeners anticipate that challenges will
come about…not if, but when and plan for them. There
gardens are not destroyed by the challenges but rather
meet them and overcome them as part of change.
The fact is that will be challenges in
every organization. There will be directors who sabotage
any talk of change because they believe that their
personal gift to your organization is to be oppositional
on principal. There will be the senior staff person who
thought the changes to governance sounded like something
to keep the Board busy and who now see how much their
position will have to change...and leaves. Or worse,
stays and does nothing. There will be crises about
members, staff, equipment, etc.
I have been a Director on the Board of a
national association who claimed to use policy
governance yet any kind of a crisis was automatically
brought to the Board table. It didn’t matter
that there were rules, the policies, the motions about
how and who should deal with critical or financial
issues, in the heat of the moment, the Board reverted to
its pre-change condition. It was a sad situation for
Directors who were confused and frustrated and for the
organization who could not manage the change process to
which it had committed.
Good governance, like good gardening, is
not about how easy it is when things are going well but
rather how to keep on when its tough. The intestinal
fortitude required to keep on with change and to
realistically anticipate challenges to change is what
separates the successful organizations from those who
are not.
Check Up Question:
Is your organization able to manage
the challenges of change?
Factor Six: Ending it
So now the garden has been completed
according to the dream, the ongoing gardening process
still happens and the cycle of visioning begins again,
there is a point at which an end or a certain milestone
in the change process is recognized.
I’m sure we all know gardeners who are
never finished with their dream garden and are always
ripping away at different sections to change it. These
gardeners never seem to enjoy the results but just go on
and on. Finding the balance between ongoing gardening
and recognizing an ending is a difficult one for some
gardeners and some organizations.
I have worked with a Staff Association
which is continually changing. It may be that the vision
was not clearly defined enough to know the end or that
there is a culture of loving change that the
organization has. In any case, this organization has as
difficult a time to hold onto Directors and staff
because change is too emotionally difficult to maintain
without a break.
Organizations that have a culture within
which they can both accept the hard work of change
should also put some kind of limit on change.
Acknowledging and celebrating success is a worthy part
of change. As important as committing to begin is the
commitment to end. I collect all kinds of ways that
organizations celebrate endings from special events at
their AGM’s to quiet recognition of the efforts of
people through the changes. It is my experience that
this culture of gratitude and celebration is one of the
most common to thriving organizations.
Check Up Question:
Can your organization bring an end
to change?
Carol
Humphries is a passionate advocate of policy-based
governance having used this model as a director and
staff person at many different levels and types of
organizations. As a consultant, Carol has helped
international, national, provincial and local
organizations to embrace
policy-based governance.
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