How to improve board dynamics

The 1990s Hubble Space Telescope episode can be adapted into a corporate governance tool if practitioners teamed up with academics/behavioural specialists to do so

In my column “When a leader is manipulated” (September 14), I had mentioned some factors that could cause a leader to feel vulnerable and become prone to governance mishap — for example, a loner or a void in life, not listening to anybody, and a preoccupation with a place in history. In crisis management writings, these are called ‘prodromal signals’, namely, precursors to behavioural aberrations. If directors can learn to use their long experience to recognise and discuss such signals, some governance mishaps may be possible to avert. 

Last week, I participated in a conference on how boards can be more