Board effectiveness conversations are always peppered with the conversation around “challenge”. What is actually meant by challenge is to constructively ask questions of the management and topics in question to determine that all the right considerations have been taken account of, to offer insights and value to the conversations depending on the information being received to questions....

Cohesion within a board can be a precarious balance; excessive unity leads to groupthink and rubber-stamping decisions, while insufficient cohesion results in misalignment and protracted decision-making. This equilibrium directly impacts risk management, with too much cohesion dulling the collective risk sensitivity and too little leading to a chaotic, ineffective approach to both existing and emerging threats....

Whenever people are involved, things are not always simple and logical. Anyone who has been on a Board will know that notwithstanding Structure, Demographics and Attributes being in place, something else is impacting the Board’s effectiveness....