For boards and governing bodies
Make the governance boundary visible before the irreversible vote.
Boards are most exposed when fiduciary duty, institutional legitimacy, executive trust, and incomplete information converge. The challenge is not another agenda. It is a cleaner way to see what kind of judgment the decision requires.
The decision beneath the decision
A board can follow process and still fail the institution. Minutes, committees, and outside advice document the route, but they do not guarantee the governing body has named the obligation it is actually choosing among.
The Five Modes create disciplined alternatives. Holding asks what cannot be traded. Restraining asks which available power should not be used. Eroding asks what compromise costs and how it will be recorded. Growing asks what the crisis requires the board to become. Embedding asks what precedent and judgment this vote transmits.
How the work proceeds
Diagnose the pattern. Work the decision. Write the code.
- 01
A short pre-session reflection summarizes how directors describe their approach to pressure.
- 02
The facilitated session separates facts, obligations, temptations, shadow risks, and precedent.
- 03
The board leaves with a written decision record that makes the governing logic explicit.
Typical outputs
Questions before a conversation
What buyers usually need to know.
Does this replace counsel or the board advisor?
No. It is designed to work alongside legal, financial, and governance advice by clarifying the judgment those inputs cannot make for the board.
Can the session be confidential?
Yes. The scope, attendees, materials, and retained outputs are agreed before the engagement.
How long is the session?
Most board sessions run a half day. A diagnostic and preparation phase occurs before the meeting.
Illustrative workshop scenario
When an urgent vote arrives with incomplete evidence
A board is asked to approve a consequential transaction before an independent review is complete. The session identifies the decision deadline, the board’s authority, unresolved assumptions and the strongest argument for waiting.
The decision record
Write the question being decided, the evidence available at the time, material dissent, required advice, the decision owner and any conditions attached to approval.
A sample working agenda
- Before the session: agree the decision, attendees and handling of confidential material.
- Establish the facts, assumptions, decision authority and deadline.
- Use the team’s self-reported Mode Finder patterns to question habitual responses.
- Compare alternatives, name the cost and write the commitments.
- Assign the first action, review date and conditions for reconsideration.
This fictional example illustrates the work. The agenda and retained documents are agreed when an engagement is scoped.
Chris brings experience leading B:Side Capital and B:Side Fund and teaching entrepreneurship. Read his B:Side CEO letter and view his ASU teaching profile.
Prepare for the conversation
Inquiry
Discuss the decision your team is carrying
A short description is enough. Chris will review it directly before the conversation.