Board diversity and "what if " strategy

The other day somebody told me that Abraham Lincoln after winning the elections , formed his first cabinet with three of the people who were his rivals for Republican nomination. Lincoln had a logic- Cabinet should represent diverse views and perspectives and also fiercely independent.

Should a Corporate Board reflect such diversity and independence? Every director in the Board brings with him or her wisdom for running the business and board diversity ensures that several new windows are opened and explored, new doors are found and hidden doors are unhinged.

One of the tasks for Boards is to form Committees like Audit Committee,NRC, Independent Directors' Committee etc. Now with rapid and disrupting changes happening around you,the importance of forming Risk Management Committee, Technology Adaptation Committee, Business Strategy Committee etc. has gained quite a bit of traction. Invariably for effective functioning of these Committees, Boards must have requisite reservoir of expertise and experience.

In this respect it is worthwhile to consider what Elon Musk has said about adopting first principles of thinking. Usually first principles of thinking process involves breaking down a larger complex issue into its conceivable parts for a coherent, cogent and cohesive understanding. But Musk says getting rid of preconceived conceptions about what you are creating is first principle of thinking - new age thinking.

Technology with its long hands of IoT, AI, Robotics, ML, DL,Industry 4.0,3D printing etc. ,has occupied the pride of place in managing today's Companies be it Shopfloor or Boardroom.

The second most important part of decision-making in the Board room should be asking "What-if " questions to the Strategy development. Board members must not shy away or hesitate to ask "what if "questions on all problems they foresee and look for the impact of such scenario analysis on the expected results. They should not hesitate to seek the help of outside experts for a report on such objective views with back up sensitivity analysis,data mining etc.

As a corollary, Board must always look for fail safe mechanism and should have a Plan B, Plan C etc up their sleeves, if their strategy meets unexpected risks and Black Swan or Grey Rhino events.

Many a grand strategy flounder when "what if" questions are not asked by Board members before approving the Strategy.

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