My takeout:
Some boards I’ve dealt with are prepared to discuss culture but too many don’t see it as anything to do with the board. The tragic thing is, that it’s the culture the board sets which determines the culture of the organisation. And possibly more tragic is that the culture of the board is set by the Chair.
You’ve all experienced Chairs who inspire you to greater heights of governance, but conversely, you’ve probably experienced Chairs who leave you despondent and ready to resign from the Board.
In this reasonably short article, the author sets out the steps necessary for the Board and CEO to evaluate existing culture and identify and implement a culture appropriate to today’s business environment.  

http://blog.boardsource.org/blog/leadership-of-the-board-chair-in-creating-board-culture

My takeout:
“..too often the board appears to be enjoying itself too much, developing a deep and cozy relationship with the CEO, and enjoying the perks while not being very inquisitive.”
Is that your board?
This article from Forbes magazine raises the question of whether some boards are asleep at the wheel. Some may have that ‘cozy’ relationship with the CEO trusting implicitly in whatever they’re told and others may be labouring under the old style governance model that relegated the real role of the board to pretty much the last item on the agenda.
Have a read through and pick up the six points the article makes about ensuring that the board is fully appraised of any issue before it hits the front page of the news.

https://www.linkedin.com/groups/4662670/4662670-6438618902195986433

Steve Bowman writing in Conscious Governance asks the question:  is your Vision statement working?
If you use your Vision statement, it can be a powerful tool for accessing the innate innovation that your staff have, finding new service offerings and assessing new programs that come up to the Board.
So, how do you know if your Vision statement works? Because you use it. And you use it constantly and shamelessly!
A good Vision statement can be used to:

• Generate innovative ideas that support and complement your programs and strategies

• Assess the ‘Vision alignment’ with any new program presented to the Board

• Anchor Board and senior management meetings, so they are focused on what is most important to you and your stakeholders

Consider this: a study published in Claremont McKenna College’s Leadership Review shows that when leaders discuss their organizations’ Vision in a specific way, not only is the Vision better understood, the leaders are also seen as being more effective in general.
As a leader in your organization, it might be worth paying attention to the way you engage with and utilize your Vision statement.
My experience echoes Steve’s, too often, organizations I encounter may not even have a Vision Statement  and often, those that do only infrequently address their Vision statements and values.

The Vision may be updated, it may stay the same...

But in both cases, it is promptly filed away leaving everyone to get on with ‘the real’ business.
This attitude is true of many nonprofits and private organizations alike.
Highly effective Boards know that the opposite is true: your Vision should be the main driver for every Board discussion and decision.

And what’s more, your Vision should be evident in your daily practices.

How else can you say that Vision attainment is a high priority?
None if this is possible, however, if you don’t know how to use your Vision statement.
If you are not using your Vision statement or you haven’t got one, drop me a line at tony@boardsense.co.nz and we’ll talk about steps you can take. 

Adaptive Boards Don’t Stop at Technical Solutions
By Jennifer Kramm | August 10, 2018
I recently got a call from an organization that was facing a lot of conflict and change. Staff were leaving the nonprofit due to board micromanagement; at the same time, the group had lost a key funder, and it was becoming clear that the organization might need to sunset its operations. The board asked me to do a board training…and asked that it be three hours or less.
I’ve seen this before, and as a board member, I understand the appeal of the ask: In the face of complex issues, we want a quick fix. Without stating it, what the nonprofit’s leaders were asking for was a technical solution to an adaptive problem. In reality, what’s almost always needed for organizational change are both technical and adaptive solutions.
Technical Problems vs. Adaptive Challenges
In their book The Practice of Adaptive Leadership, Ronald Heifetz, Marty Linsky, and Alexander Grashow offer good definitions of technical versus adaptive problems. Technical problems are those for which we have “known solutions that can be implemented by current know-how.” Technical solutions are readily available because others have traveled the path before. Board governance technical solutions could include new policies, orientation, processes, education, or a new committee. For example, Propel Nonprofits’ board profile matrix is a good technical tool to evaluate your board composition.
The authors define adaptive problems, on the other hand, as those which “can only be addressed through changes in people’s priorities, beliefs, habits, and loyalties.” Adaptive problems are difficult to identify—or, sometimes, they are the easily identifiable elephant in the room. What’s required of us in facing those challenges are individuals and groups practicing courage, change, and experimentation.
Hard but Necessary
Adaptive solutions can be harder to adopt because they can be personal or require intentional collective group process to navigate loss or uncertainty. For example, after completing the board profile matrix, maybe there’s a realization that the strategic direction of the nonprofit calls for a general shift in board composition to onboard more people with a stronger strategy skillset or lived experience from the community being served. Or, in the case of the above example, maybe the discussion regarding governance policies (technical solution) results in breakthrough understandings from board members about how to alter their behaviors to have better boundaries with new staff (adaptive).
Both technical and adaptive solutions have merit; I’d never argue for one over the other. When facing a challenge like climbing a rock face, you need to have the right equipment. However, you can’t have enough carabiners or rope to deal with a mountain lion greeting you as you reach the next ledge. That’s an adaptive challenge that requires courage and course correction, rather than any equipment you can buy at REI.
Adaptive solutions are often ignored or avoided. Sometimes, it’s because they require a change in values or beliefs. (“We are the only ones who can do this work effectively.”) Other times, it’s because they’re messy, involving multiple players and sometimes spanning staff silos or staff and board roles. (“You mean I have to change my relationship with the executive director?”) But without planful adoption of adaptive solutions, technical solutions risk falling flat. What good is a self-reported board profile matrix if the process fails to consider what the organization needs from the board, or fails to work on cultural shifts needed to enrich the board’s performance once newcomers join?
I want to urge boards and nonprofit leaders to thoughtfully plan for adaptive solutions even if they’re hard to name or messier to approach. This is juicy work that requires talented leaders like you. If we as nonprofit leaders constantly treat complex, adaptive challenges with only technical solutions, our ability to carry out our mission suffers. For boards of directors to genuinely develop to meet changing needs, we need to change as individual leaders, change as governing groups, and pair technical solutions with adaptive ones.

My takeout: Okay, so this is a little light-hearted but the author,  Liz Wooten Reschke, takes a look at board culture through the eyes of her children and reveals some things about boards that we cringe about but do nothing about. She covers topics like, ‘respect each other’s personal viewpoints and space’, and ‘because I said so’ firstly as they may occur in the home but more importantly, as they occur in the boardroom.
A good easy short read but some challenging thoughts.
 
As both a mom and a consultant in the nonprofit sector, I often wonder what my world looks like to my two young children, who currently understand very little about what “mommy does.” What, for example, might they conclude about board culture if they were to venture with me into a nonprofit boardroom, where much of my work in board engagement and develop takes place?
So, I mentally stepped into their tiny shoes to think about it — the boardroom experience from a child’s eye — and identify some of the parental lessons I try to impart that might relate. Below are some of those lessons, intertwined with thoughtful questions, that you can use with your board to start the conversation about your own board culture and how it affects your ability to achieve your mission:
 
1. Respect each other’s personal viewpoints and space. 
If you have a sibling or a close friend, or anyone who’s been in your life a significant amount of time, you know that there’s going to be times in your relationship when you disagree. Whether it’s a sibling spat or a boardroom brawl, the type of conversations and relationships you’re allowing to occur between you guides future interactions.
 Are you able to disagree with a fellow board member on an issue and not hold a grudge? Are you making sure you’re putting the family — i.e., your nonprofit — first in your interactions? Are you allowing fellow board members to have differing opinions so that inquisitive discussion is taking place in your boardroom? 
 
2. Treat each other with kindness and caring, even when we’re upset. 
I have had a few occasions to participate in board meetings where people got loud — that type of loud where everyone starts talking over each other to make sure their point is getting across. We all as board members can (and should!) have strong opinions about the missions and agencies we support. It is absolutely a good thing to be passionate about your volunteer time and efforts but it is important to ask:   
 How are you handling getting your individual point across during heated discussion? After a boardroom disagreement, can you find a way to celebrate the lively discussion instead of use it for fodder at a later date?
 
3. Because I said so. 
I cringed the first time I said these words as a parent. And while I disagree with one voice being prominent in the boardroom, often times this is the case. Especially if there’s a founder in the room, if there are strong personalities in the room, if there are board members with a personal connection to the mission, or if there’s a strong chief executive in place. Trust me: I’ve been all of those.
What does your organization’s board-staff partnership look like? Who are the “parents” in your boardroom? Are they working together or against one another?
 
4. Mind your meetings.
My children often ask me and their father how many meetings we’ve had that day. My son actually finds it a bragging point to tell us that he’s had one thousand meetings in a day! It’s laughable and cute…until you realize that this might be the way you actually feel about your own board and committee meetings.
 What is your frequency of board meetings and when was the last time you examined it? Are your meetings empowering your board to meet its mission OR burning out board members?  How are you making sure your board meetings are intentional and productive? 
 
5. Move your Elf on the Shelf.
I am one of those parents who do not like — OK, hate — the Elf on the Shelf phenomenon. Outside of the overall visual creepiness (in my opinion) of the little dolls, they have led to a lot of parents putting in a lot of effort to find new and creative ways to one-up their friends on social media — er, I mean promote good behavior with their children during the holiday season. And yet there’s value to be learned from our little creepy friends. There are a lot of stakeholders in the nonprofit sector, and there is incredible opportunity to make your efforts visual, competitive and creative through technology. As ambassadors of your agency, board members have the opportunity to lead this charge.
 How is your board sharing ideas and mission successes through social media? Who are your agency’s elves (i.e, who’s paying attention to the great work you do)? How are you engaging them, helping promote creativity and a healthy bit of competition by moving them to action?