More on Boards

Would Board members of a nonprofit organization really do that? Would they really have their own agenda that would override consideration of the agenda the Board is supposed to be working on?

Sure they would... and do! regularly. Yes, even these stalwart pillars of the community who are brought together to govern a public trust, which is what a nonprofit is. They can and do bring their own agendas into the meeting and press those agendas, in some cases, to the exclusion of all else.

And your reaction may be "But wait a minute, John, I've been to lots of Board meetings and the people on those boards are quite serious and down to earth and ready to help. After all they're volunteering their time to help the nonprofit. How can you say that?"

Back to "Psycho-dynamics" This isn't something they necessarily do consciously. They don't come into the meeting and purposively give the charity's agenda short shrift. They are intelligent, for the most part well-educated, frequently very dedicated people. They don't really set out to sabotage the work at hand. If you asked any person around the table, they would stoutly deny that there's anything untoward going on in their heads. But here's how it works.

What are the sub-conscious questions any person in any group of people is asking, first and foremost? First, "What do I think of myself in this group, how do I see myself, what is my image of myself in this context? Each person around the table has a set of self images upon which they draw, depending on the group they're in, the role they have to play, and what they want from the group.

Second, every Board member around the table is also very interested in "What is the image that the other person (each other person at the table) has of me? How do they see me? What do they want/need from me?"

Third, every Board member at the table is also asking "What is my image of that person – what do I think of them? What do I know about them? What do I think they want of me, what do I think I can give to them?"

Fourth, again, every Board member is sub-consciously going to go to the next level, which is "How can I either alter that person's perception of me, or confirm that perception? What do I need to do or say to bring my images of myself, my image of what that other person thinks of me, and what I think about that other person into some kind of harmony that I can accept?" And this goes on around the table ad infinitum throughout the Board meeting.

This internal assessment and adjustment mechanism goes on at a subliminal level or a more conscious level depending on many factors in the particular Board member's life at that moment. Lots of factors influence that. But it is operating nonetheless.

Given that kind of internal psycho-dynamic that is operation in each and every Board member, each and every staff member around the room, is it any wonder that there is little room left to engage in "deliberative thought" about matters that concern the nonprofit? Each person in the room is busy sorting out and finding ways to act appropriately for themselves and yet also for the context of the group in which they find themselves.

Deliberative thought is practically impossible. In fact, and you'll hear me say this a thousand times: "People in groups can only do two things well: they can brainstorm and they can tell stories; but they cannot do deliberative thought" And so we expect, and we have it set up in society, that groups of volunteers coming together like this are given charge of a public trust, governing a nonprofit charitable institution?

Ah, but there's more… because I know you're asking "What's this about deliberative thought? What's with that?" And there's also more internal agenda that isn't necessarily very subliminal. We'll take tat up in the next few entries.