Right from when we were first in business, our work was fuelled by our unashamed coffee habit – and not just for its welcome inspirational qualities! Our business model has been to have lower financial risks, and be more flexible for clients and for our team members, by the simple expedient of not having business…
Simplicity v Complexity
We’ve often had the conversation about achieving a balance between simplicity and complexity in organisational design, which – not unexpectedly – has knock on effects in how governance of that organisation will then perform. Of course, there is great strength in a self-explanatory design – like having a big red button to hit in emergencies….
Governance: time for reflection
Client: Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart Approaching the end of a 6 year period in office, the present team has seen many, if not most, of the complexities typically experienced in a large and, therefore, unavoidably complicated endeavour – meaning leaders always face consequent challenges for focussing on, and…
The gentle (?!) art of crafting reports
As much as we have come to shudder at the idea that there can be due accountability without formal reporting, the prospect of a truck pulling up to the door to deliver voluminous materials for a board meeting is something that, equally, we greet with regretful sighs. All too often we have seen baroque board…
Following through
Client:Chief Executive Officer, ACPSEM Following our report to the Board of Directors in late 2018, and their acceptance of all recommendations made, 2019 sees ACPSEM fully engaged on implementation as a major initiative in governance reform. Our present follow through is with the Professional Standards Board within ACPSEM, which is the custodian of professional self-regulation…
The perils of trust without accountability
An earlier post on accountability concluded that ‘a pervasive reason why a decision-maker ought to explain and justify conduct is to engender the trust necessary to function effectively in the circumstances. Knowing why makes it possible to look at to whom one should be accountable, and for what conduct.’ That post was prompted by many experiences showing that the…
Coffee party
Just to confirm that all the coffee did actually culminate in a party, here is the evidence from the University of New South Wales Faculty of Law graduation held on 8 May 2019. Our Managing Director, now Dr Carolyn Evans CSC, received her degree from Chancellor David Gonski.
Thinking about ‘being accountable’
In the very broad church of governance and decision-making, ‘being accountable’ has long since become one of those expressions that is bandied about as the all-encompassing remedy for poor decisions, inappropriate actions, lacklustre results – not least, accountability is cast as a panacea to corporate performance ills and the solution to ‘undemocratic’ government. [1] But…
One last sabbatical postcard
In a step known as ‘administrative conferral’, yesterday our Managing Director, Carolyn Evans, was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of New South Wales, ahead of a later opportunity for graduation celebrations. Her doctoral thesis is entitled Towards a more accountable United Nations Security Council – why, to whom, for what,…
A few tears with your coffee
Today we are sniffling a little as we bid a very fond farewell to our long time colleague Tanya van der Wall. After 15 years with ThinkEvans, Tanya is leaving us for a full time role with Commercial Eyes, a specialist consultancy based in Melbourne and focussed on pharmaceuticals, life sciences and related business. As…
Governance is … what now?
In the FAQs grab bag for consultants and other advisers to organisations, the predictable inclusions are a bunch of things about ‘governance’ – what they think it is, what a good system looks like, why senior people should lose sleep over it, and the like. Unfortunately, all of the talk that goes into the top…
It’s not just you …
If you thought the last two years were just a bit odd, with everything blowing hot and cold on a seemingly random basis, it really isn’t just you. We may have come to expect that from climate-change induced weather, but political leaders in many places have been giving the weather a run for its money….
Women in Community: sunset or sunrise?
Client: Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart, NSW Region This project responded to a felt need for a fresh look at a long-standing initiative of the Sisters, to answer the question of what options there may be for this initiative to continue to serve an evolving community. The project team has now reviewed…
All recommendations adopted
Client:Chief Executive Officer, ACPSEM ThinkEvans has now reported to the ACPSEM Board of Directors on a range of governance initiatives that, if implemented, will steer the organisation towards positive governance outcomes for the entire ACPSEM membership. The report put forward 32 headline recommendations for change, all of which were adopted by the ACPSEM Board. The…
Thinking about being ‘a little bit unique’
Not that we’re a bunch of grammar fanatics, but when we routinely get people quoting our reports for years afterwards (no, really – years and years!) it does rather focus the mind on trying to get the spelling and punctuation correct! So forgive us a little in-joke when we say how often we smile when…