I’ve been appalled over the years by the way some charities have been governed. After more than two decades working with boards, some of the reasons have become clear. One of those is to do with the lack of diverse thinking on boards. And by diversity, I mean diversity of experience, perspective, temperament and ways of challenging the status quo, alongside demographic diversity.
Charities and other social impact organisations exist as a group of people brought together around a mission, irrespective of legal form, whether it be a CIO, CIC, Mutual or some other acronym. Why? Because together we can achieve more than on our own.
The expression “The Wisdom of Crowds” was popularised by James Surowiecki in his 2004 book The Wisdom of Crowds. However, the original idea is often attributed to Aristotle’s Politics, a 4th century work of political philosophy, where he suggested that a group of ordinary people collectively evaluating art, music, or government could outperform even the best individual experts.
John Kay, the famous Oxford don and leading economist, in his book, The Corporation in the 21st Century, talks about “No individual has either the knowledge or the skills necessary to build an Airbus, but 10,000 people working as a cooperative do”.
Combining skills and experience enables us to be greater than the sum of our parts. In other words, accumulated knowledge allows us to go higher and faster. And having a mix of fluid intelligence and crystallised intelligence gives us a spectrum of fresh insight and wisdom from experience.
Of course, simply bringing together people with different skills and experiences is not enough. We need to create an environment in which they can challenge one another, disagree and, ultimately, make better decisions together.
In his book Moral Ambition, Rutger Bregman, talking about how we bring about change in the world, says that ‘change is not one-dimensional’. In other words, you need multiple people who all bring something unique to the table. He goes on to say that you need “The intellectual and the influencer. The networker and the agitator. The Bureaucrat and the entrepreneur. Someone who writes in academic jargon, someone who brings ideas to a wider public. Someone who’s polarising, someone who brings people together. Someone who lobbies behind the scenes, someone who lets themselves get dragged away by the riot police”. We might not want one of our board members dragged off by the riot police, but the point is apposite: to effect change we need diversity.
Bregman goes on to say that “every successful coalition is a pact among people who disagree on any number of things”.
To shepherd a disparate group like this requires a highly skilled chair. As my dear friend Stephen Lloyd used to say, “The best boards are comprised of people who can barely tolerate one another’s company but are held together by a good Chair”! Hyperbole but full of insight and wisdom.
Simply bringing together a diverse group of people does not always result in the best outcome, particularly if there is a tendency to conform, to be too easily influenced by others, or to rush towards consensus without properly examining the evidence. The Chair needs to be able to push, probe and challenge.
I believe it was the American writer Mignon McLaughlin who said that ‘Every society honours its live conformists and its dead troublemakers’. In other words, those who are agitating for change are often overlooked, vilified or cancelled. And yet the passage of time often reveals the wisdom and foresight of the troublemaker. Of course, not every troublemaker sees things clearly, but every troublemaker should be heard to see if there is a kernel of truth in what they are saying. This is particularly important if we are to avoid groupthink and confirmation bias.
And so, as we approach Trustees’ Week, I challenge everyone involved in shaping the governance of their organisations to look hard at their boards. Do they have the diversity of thought, experience and perspective needed to make the best possible decisions? And, just as importantly, do they genuinely welcome those who challenge the prevailing wisdom, or do they simply recruit people who think much the same way as everyone else?
Your ability to execute on your mission depends on your answers.
Managing Director, Trustees Unlimited/Russam
October 2026
