Overcoming Board Inertia

Board members who say things like “…it’s never been done that way before,” can put a real damper on innovation. A new article from Guidestar won’t tell you how to make them act differently, but it might encourage you to press forward with your vision even when you hear them. In summarizing his points, Jarold Panas writes:

The other day, while waiting in the doctor's office, I came across an article in an old issue of National Geographic.

You'll laugh when I tell you the subject—barnacles. But one fascinating paragraph stayed with me.

"The barnacle," this article said, "is confronted early on with a decision about where it is going to live. Once it decides that, it spends the rest of its life with its head permanently cemented to a rock."

Don't let it happen to you!

Susan Herr

Posted at 1:14 AM, May 09, 2008 in Nonprofit Management | Permalink | Comment