Quote Originally Posted by Saluqi View Post
There were so many agenda items, who ever set the agenda was either cruel or just an idiot. I guess when the sky is falling it's important to take care of business.
Yikes, I just re-read the agenda and voting summary -- all 38 pages. I had forgotten how massive it was and agree with Paul: such a lengthy agenda is unnecessarily brutal. As an unwilling veteran of far too many interminable board and committee meetings, I know how mind-deadening and frustrating long agendas can be. No one is thinking their best at the end of a four-hour meeting!

It's neither realistic nor fair to expect board members to fully discuss a huge pile of diverse stuff in one sitting and make wise decisions -- decisions that could affect the organization for a long time. The AG08.3 minutes/summary don't reflect it, but I hope there was a whole lot of committee work supporting the discussion of each of those many items. As much as we all like to malign committees ("no one of us is as dumb as all of us," according to the anti-motivational poster), they do offer the chance for regular members to get involved and work through the details and all the angles of a proposal. Discussions at the committee level are invaluable for the "gee, I never thought of that" factor alone, and can significantly clarify, simplify, and speed the board-level discussion to follow. I especially like the teamwork that evolves from committees, and future leaders often emerge from committees. After all, what is an organization about but teamwork?

I don't know how NAFA evaluates requests to add items to the agenda, but in my experience with both public and private sector organizations, a simple form makes it much easier and can really focus the proposer's thinking. No, it's not too bureaucratic or cumbersome or government-like. It can be as simple as: "What problem are you trying to solve? What solutions have previously been considered or attempted? Why did they not work? What solution(s) are you proposing? Who have you talked to about this? What do they recommend? Who loves this idea and why? Who hates this idea and why? What arguments against your idea are you aware of? Why do you believe your proposal withstands those criticisms? What will happen if nothing is done?"

Might be worth a try in the future.