155. Here’s a little story that must be told (Condition #4: information content)

Remember that wish list from last episode about boards wanting information that’s shorter, more detailed, and sooner? What are they *really* asking for? They just want to be able to come to the table knowing as much useful stuff as possible. That sounds pretty reasonable, right? Funny thing about the content of board pre-reads is that a lot of it is stuff that nobody needs to know or wants to talk about. Sometimes that’s because of regulations – meaning the content *has* to be there, even if it’s useless. But sometimes it’s something less defensible, like 40 years ago some director asked for a report on usage stats for VHS vs. Betamax and for some reason management still puts time into crafting that report before every board meeting just. because. we’ve. always. done. it. that. way. So you can imagine why having a bunch of useless information in the pre-reads might be a problem. But it’s not just about editing. We can also think about the balance between reporting on the past and asking questions about the future. We can think about the balance between reporting facts and sharing opinions or forecasts. We can think about the balance between data dumps and pithy summaries. But you can be sure about one thing, every decision about what to include or exclude *will* affect directors’ ability to come to the table ready to engage.