Thursday, December 30, 2010

Sticky Teams: Selected Quotes (Chapter Two)

The chapter is entitled "Why Boards Go Bad." (For those of you in SBC life, you can substitute "Why Deacons Go Bad" or perhaps "Why Church Councils Go Bad." It's not exactly the same thing, but it's close enough for horseshoes & hand grenades.)

  • Location & environment matters; it's never neutral. It always works for or against us. More important, it sends a strong message about what kind of behavior is expected & appropriate.
  • While admittedly there are some individuals we appreciate less the more time we spend with them, the dynamic of a group is different. Groups predictably draw closer with increased interaction & time.
  • Our rotating board did more harm than good. Imagine a corporation that changed one-third of its leaders every ten to fifteen meetings... When, by definition, thirty-three percent of the board lacked a corporate memory, it was hard to build on past decisions.
  • Last week I talked to a pastor who had 25 members on his board. It's no wonder they move at the speed of an arthritic snail.
  • The larger the size of a board, the greater the temptation for board members to think of themselves as representing a particular constituency.

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