Board Advisory
Challenge for those accountable for Performance, People & Process™
These are early symptoms of serious underlying systemic problems quietly nudging an organisation’s behaviour to diverge from strategic intent: decisions are made locally, often without understanding their effects globally. Over time, decision errors subtly compound and begin to conflict with increasing frequency, leading to strategic errors being misclassified as execution failure.
Problem Classes
At board level, problems rarely arrive clearly defined.
False Positive
Reported numbers show everything is fine but doubt in their credibility is emerging.
Risk: Runaway losses
Gridlock
Problems are openly acknowledged and accepted, however nothing is improving.
Risk: Operational exhaustion
Black Box
Results are good, sometimes surprisingly so, but no-one understands why.
Risk: Uncontrolled dependancy
“I've worked with Kenny on an individual basis, as well as bringing him into my senior team to help overcome some challenges around change. The results have been excellent. If you need some help with change, growth or start-up, I can't recommend enough speaking to Kenny.”
Nick Cohen
CEO of PCR (Acquired by Aro)
Boardroom Blindspots
Five recurring behaviours that quietly weaken board performance.
The symptoms change with scale, but the same patterns often sit beneath them. Startups stall growth, SMEs lose momentum, and large enterprises derail transformation attempts. The matrix below shows how these patterns tend to surface.
Startups
Founder-driven decision cycles shut out governance; challenge becomes personal.
Overconfidence and urgency bias; blind to risk until cash or credibility is low.
Echo chambers demonstrate loyalty; disagreement viewed as disloyalty.
Decisions made on instinct; data used to confirm beliefs, not test them.
Energy without endurance; performance depends mainly on adrenaline.
SMEs
Informal boards blur governance and management; advice and direction merge.
Focus narrows to today’s problems; emerging risks go unseen until urgent.
Groupthink from familiarity and comfort; few fresh perspectives reach table.
Data overwhelm; endless analysis replaces sound judgment and action.
Fatigue from constant firefighting; no cadence of reflection.
Large Enterprises
Boards defer to process; genuine debate replaced by presentations.
Excessive risk aversion; innovation and excellence throttled by compliance.
Challenge is Symbolic; questions are for record not for insight or answers.
Complacency; attention dulled by stability and associated comfort zone.
Deficit
Governance Discipline
Risk Perception
Constructive Challenge
Committees over-complicate evidence; paralysis follows endless reporting.
Decision Clarity
Cognitive Resilience
These patterns rarely appear in isolation. Governance breakdowns, bias, fatigue, conformity, and misplaced confidence tend to reinforce each other. To examine the cause and effect of these forces, and resolve their negative impact, I apply my own Performance Architecture methodology.
“I worked with Kenny in my first role, and again more recently. I have gained immense value from his input. Kenny’s case studies on leadership & behaviour are also brimming with insights, and easy to apply to daily challenges.”
Aislinn Nicol
CFO, Turtl
Strategic Overwatch
When direction of travel appears obvious, but behaviour and delivery do not follow.
Startup
Disruptor
Strengthen governance and challenge founder bias before it scales into risk.
SME
Scaler
Reinforce board discipline and decision clarity to sustain growth and agility.
Large Enterprise
Titan
Restore strategic focus and authentic challenge where process replaced purpose.
“Kenny has worked with me on a personal basis and with some members of my team at Premier Foods. The results I have experienced myself and for members of my team are exceptional, both in terms of team and individual performance, and through them impact on the wider team. Critically in terms of value add vs cost the results pay back in spades.”
Hilary Spence
Finance Director, Premier Foods
Identify your blindspots
If these patterns are familiar, the question now is what are they costing you?
I work with senior leaders and boards when governance, decision-making, and execution are no longer producing the outcomes they should.
Board
Advisory
Challenge for those accountable for Performance, People & Process™
Problem
Classes
At board level, problems rarely arrive clearly defined.
False Positive
Reported numbers show everything is fine but doubt in their credibility is emerging.
Risk: Runaway losses
Gridlock
Problems are openly acknowledged and accepted, however nothing is improving.
Risk: Operational exhaustion
Black Box
Results are good, sometimes surprisingly so, but no-one understands why.
Risk: Uncontrolled dependancy
These are early symptoms of serious underlying systemic problems quietly nudging an organisation’s behaviour to diverge from strategic intent: decisions are made locally, often without understanding their effects globally. Over time, decision errors subtly compound and begin to conflict with increasing frequency, leading to strategic errors being misclassified as execution failure.
-
into my senior team to help overcome some challenges around change. The results have been excellent. If you need some help with change, growth or start-up, I can't recommend enough speaking to Kenny.”
Nick Cohen
CEO of PCR
(Acquired by Aro)
Boardroom Blindspots
Five recurring behaviours that quietly weaken board performance.
The symptoms change with scale, but the same patterns often sit beneath them.
Startups stall growth, SMEs lose momentum, and large enterprises derail transformation attempts.
Below shows how these patterns tend to surface along with their corresponding skill deficit:
Startups
Founder-driven decision cycles shut out governance; challenge feels personal, not procedural:
Governance Discipline.
Overconfidence and urgency bias; blind to risk signals until cash or credibility runs low:
Risk Perception.
Echo chambers demonstrate loyalty; disagreement viewed as disloyalty:
Constructive Challenge.
Decisions made on instinct; data used to confirm beliefs, not test them:
Decision Clarity.
Energy without endurance; performance depends mainly on adrenaline:
Cognitive Resilience
SMEs
Informal boards blur governance and management; hard to separate advice from direction:
Governance Discipline.
Focus narrows to today’s problems; emerging risks go unseen until they’re urgent:
Risk Perception.
Groupthink through familiarity and comfort; few fresh perspectives reach the table:
Constructive Challenge.
Data overwhelm; endless analysis replaces sound judgment and action:
Decision Clarity.
Fatigue from constant firefighting; no cadence of reflection:
Cognitive Resilience.
Large Enterprises
Boards defer to process; genuine debate replaced by presentations:
Governance Discipline.
Excessive risk aversion; innovation throttled by compliance mindset:
Risk Perception.
Symbolic challenge; questions asked solely to go on record not for insight or answers:
Constructive Challenge.
Committees over-complicate evidence; paralysis follows endless reporting:
Decision Clarity.
Complacency; attention dulled by stability and associated comfort zone:
Cognitive Resilience.
These patterns rarely ever appear in isolation. Founder bias, governance breakdowns, fatigue, conformity & misplaced confidence tend to be mutually reinforcing.
To examine the cause and effect of these forces, and resolve their negative impact, I apply my own Performance Architecture methodology.
-
I have gained immense value from his input. Kenny’s case studies on leadership & behaviour are also brimming with insights, and easy to apply to daily challenges.”
Aislinn Nicol
CFO
Turtl
Strategic
Overwatch
When direction of travel seems obvious, yet behaviour and delivery do n’t follow.
Startup • Disruptor
Strengthen governance and challenge founder bias before it scales into risk.
SME • Scaler
Reinforce board discipline and decision clarity to sustain growth and agility.
Large Enterprise • Titan
Restore strategic focus and authentic challenge where process replaced purpose.
-
of my team at Premier Foods. Kenny helps people identify issues that are holding them back and unlock their potential. The results I have experienced myself and for members of my team are exceptional, both in terms of team of individual performance and through them impact on the wider team. Critically in terms of value add vs cost the results pay back in spades.”
Hilary Spence
Finance Director
Premier Foods
Identify blindspots
If these patterns are familiar, the question now is what are they costing you?
I work with senior leaders and Exec boards when governance, decision-making, and execution are no longer producing the outcomes they should.