Set ground rules
High-functioning boards and executive teams don’t miraculously work just by focusing on common challenges. They spend a few hours once a year setting ground rules. You can use quips as reminders.
Examples: One group’s ground rule, “No fish on the table,” means “No complaining or whining without a solution.” Another group that had trouble with candor now says, “All fish on the table,” meaning, “Put the truth out there, no matter how ugly or bad it smells.”
Trust, or lack of it, needs ground rules.
