The Truth About Boards And Committees

Where there is One man

There is a possibility

For Effectiveness.

 

Where there are Two

There is none.

 

Where there is One man

There is a possibility

For Truth.

 

Where there are Two

There is none.

 

The aggregation of human input

Is beneficial for moving a heavy log

Or any facet of manual labor.

 

Other than this,

The aggregation of human input

Leads only to problems

And inefficiencies.

 

Humans have meetings

For socialization

And justification.

 

Justification

Of work.

 

Justification

Of a semblance

Of productivity.

 

Gathering the opinions

Of different individuals

Leads only to chaos

Conflict

And confusion.

 

Meetings

Have no place

In a Serious man’s life.

 

He who seeks to accomplish great things

Has no use

For committees.

 

He who seeks to accomplish great things

Has no use

For opinions.

 

As he errs,

He errs

And learns.

 

As he succeeds,

He succeeds

And learns.

 

It does not matter

What his colleagues think.

 

It does not matter

What his subordinates think.

 

If he has a boss

And he must seek permission

From a boss,

He cannot do great things

In such a position.

 

On a board or committee,

John thinks X.

Sally thinks Y.

Robert thinks Z.

 

What they think

Has no merit.

 

Unless . . .

John is The World Leader in X.

Or Sally is The World Leader in Y.

Or Robert is The World Leader in Z.

 

If they are not,

It is a blind guess.

 

Blind guesses were available

BEFORE the meeting.

 

Blind guesses were available

BEFORE the formation

Of the board and committee.

 

Of what use is it

To form boards and committees

To make Blind Guesses?

 

Most decisions Fail.

Most companies Fail.

 

And even the ones that do not

Function at but a fraction of the efficiency

Than is otherwise possible for them.

 

Humans are interested in “joining others.”

They are interested in “holiday parties.”

They will do anything and everything

Do “get together”

And “socialize.”

 

Companies

Are fraternities

And high schools.

 

Cliques.

Groups.

Wars.

Favoritism.

Subterfuge.

Prejudice . . .

 

It is this way

Because unserious men are common and plentiful.

And the Serious Man

Is an exquisitely rare breed.

 

The high school brat

Puts on roman-numeral shirt

And becomes a fraternity brat.

The fraternity brat

Puts on a tie

And becomes an executive.

 

Exchanging ties for t-shirts and flip-flops

And exchanging cubicles for open and communal office spaces

Does not greatness make.

 

Humans are imperfect.

Combine them

And the imperfection increases.

 

The Serious Man

Flies solo.

 

Because he has no time

For Inefficiency.

Socialization.

Or Nonsense.

 

Namaste.