Try a 30-Minute Exercise to Kick-Start your Thinking.

Sometimes just getting started is the hardest part.

Especially these days—when working from home means that the intersecting, urgent obligations seem to crowd out that all-important, but non-urgent, time to just simply think.

For those of you who are struggling to focus and get some organizational thinking started, here is a 30-minute exercise to try that will get the juices flowing, and get your strategic thinking started.

I first published this on LinkedIn. If you’d like my help with this exercise, please get in touch.

Exercise: If you need to think about your board

This exercise is for those of you struggling to focus and get some organizational thinking done during these difficult times.

Find your organization’s articles of incorporation and bylaws. Print them. (If this is unachievable, I’m going to refer you to a lawyer that specializes in this.)

Take out a pen. Mark these documents up as you read. Underline. Circle. Highlight. Get interested in these foundational documents; show them the attention they deserve.

• As you read, and annotate, ask the following questions:

• Do they properly describe your organization as it operates today?

• Is there anything in there that is inconsistent with your board policies or practices, or your operational policies and procedures?

• Do you know if they are compliant with the governing acts in your jurisdiction?

Now ask, what flows out your close reading of these documents that you should address right away, or what can be put on a work plan to chip away at over time (review board committee structure, board policies, maybe just some ‘good governance’ training, etc…)

Congratulations! You’ve just started some thinking on which you can begin to build a governance review.

If you’d like my coaching help to push this exercise into a fully-realized plan, please get in touch.