For boards and leadership teams
What goes unchallenged?
An independent British practice
An independent view of what you may be missing.
Lightship works with boards and leadership teams to test the assumptions behind major decisions and the investments that get renewed year after year.
Three ways to bring independent thinking to your decisions.
From the public inquiry record
‘Highly
effective.’
Have board reviews become just a box-ticking exercise?
Carillion reviewed its board annually. Its final annual report described the board as ‘highly effective’ and identified strategic oversight as a strength. After the company entered liquidation, MPs found that its non-executives struggled to give any convincing examples of their impact.
Board effectiveness reviews →Seven questions most reviews never ask.
From Rethinking the Board Review, the areas a review should examine instead.
01
Strategic thinking and industry understanding
Does the board understand the industry forces and global trends that shape its strategy, or does it rely on the executive’s account of them?
02
Knowledge of AI and emerging technologies
Can directors judge AI investment, its ethical implications, and how far the board can actually see where AI is used and what risks it carries?
03
Critical thinking and evidence-led practice
When the board adopts ‘best practice’, how good is the evidence behind it?
04
Building capability and resilience
Does the board plan succession and look at talent beyond the executive team, or does it reach for repeated restructuring?
05
Power dynamics, cognitive diversity & meeting effectiveness
How do directors think together? We examine this across three to five actual decisions rather than in the abstract.
06
Use of insight from customers, suppliers & employees
What first-hand insight reaches the board, and does it change anything it decides?
07
Adaptability of board structures and committees
Do governance structures adapt as conditions change, or do they stay fixed long after the reasons for them have gone?
The paper
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About Lightship
Independent thought.
Sound judgement.
An independent British practice for boards and leadership teams. Our work centres on questioning received wisdom and testing the assumptions behind decisions.
About Lightship