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In the previous two months, I explained how boards can use two well-known business ideas to improve governance. In this month’s column, I will propose a third, harnessing human physiology. But first, let’s recap.
A board can eliminate superfluous meetings by recognizing Parkinson’s Law—the truism that work expands to fill the time allocated for it. The board can, nonetheless, be more effective in less time by using the 80/20 principle to limit its agenda to what Joseph Juran called the vital few v. the trivial many.
A charter school board that meets only as often as is really necessary (Parkinson’s Law) by disciplining itself to limit discussion only to those things that are really necessary (the 80/20 principle), is performing at a level that few achieve. Such a board could be said to be at the top of its game. But just as one excels in athletics, peak performance takes practice, discipline, commitment, and desire. It also takes something else—energy.
You might be thinking, “Huh? How’d he go from discussing business principles to human physiology?” Stay with me and I’ll explain.
I recently read, The Power of Full Engagement: Energy, Not Time, is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal, by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz. The two have trained top athletes to be peak performers in their chosen sports by teaching them to manage their energy.
For me, the primary take away from the book was the recognition that as humans, our bodies and minds oscillate, not just when we are asleep, but during waking hours also. Like ocean waves, our energy ebbs and flows throughout the day.
Relative to these natural patterns, the authors made two points in particular that struck me as very relevant for boards. Before I share them with you, though, a note of caution is in order. After you read them, you might be tempted to think to yourself that the two points are obvious. Their value to boards lies, however, not in the fact that the points are obvious, but in putting them to work. (Besides which, as obvious as they seem, I hadn’t previously realized that science had confirmed them so precisely.)
First, our natural rhythms are such that by late afternoon, our bodies and minds are beginning the physiological process of cycling down to prepare for sleep. Hence, of all of our waking hours, evening hours are our least energetic, thus our least effective. This means that after 6:00 p.m. most people are least able to perform to their fullest capability—precisely when most boards meet.
Second, our capacity to be effective at any given task oscillates in 90-120 minute cycles. Thus, regardless of how skilled you or I may be at a particular activity (e.g., sitting in a board meeting), our natural wavelengths demand that we rest.
When we try to push beyond 120 minutes, we often consume caffeine or sugar to counter the loss of focus. This does little, however, to boost our effectiveness. And of course, within an hour after doing so, our energy declines to an even lower point. (As an example, think of your last three hour board meeting.)
So let’s pull these ideas together in a way that promotes good governance. First, is it really necessary to meet in the evening? Why not an early morning meeting or perhaps a lunch meeting (if people are centrally located)? In addition to having the most energy for the day, an added bonus to an early morning meeting (in addition to breakfast) is that people’s schedules will likely force the board to stay on track. No time for rambling discussions about bake sales—people have to get to work.
Second, limit your meeting to 90-120 minutes—tops. This will probably happen automatically if you meet at breakfast time. But if evening is the only time that really will work for your board—limit those meetings to two hours.
To summarize, your board can be more effective by combining three simple ideas. Use the 80/20 principle to narrow the scope of the board’s discussion to the vital few, thereby eliminating the need to meet every thirty days. When you do meet, limit the time to two hours and try to meet at a time of day when humans are naturally at their best.
Would these require your board to do things differently? Perhaps. But the payoff is increased effectiveness with less work. That’s a winning combination.
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Brian Carpenter is CEO of the National Charter Schools Institute and author of Charter School Board University: An Introductory Course to Effective Charter School Board Governance and soon to be published, The Seven Outs Model: Strategic Planning Made Easy for Charter Schools.
Brian Carpenter is author of Charter School Board University: An Introductory Course to Effective Charter School Board Governance and CEO of the National Charter Schools Institute.
For questions, or assistance in developing your board, you can reach him at (989) 205-4182 or
bcarpenter@nationalcharterschools.org.
©2007 Brian L. Carpenter
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