Reinventing Your Board: A Step-by-Step Guide to Implementing Policy Governance (J-B Carver Board Governance Series)

I have spent the last 10 years or so studying, training and implementing the Carver Policy Governance system. I am convinced of its effectiveness and practicality in creating a clear path to better governance for a board and the organization it’s overseeing. This book by the Carvers is the “how to” of Policy Governance and provides you with all you’ll need to implement this with a board. It provides sequencing guidance for the four policy areas, template policies, and insight into how to pull this all together. It’s like having a Carver consultant guiding you through the implementation process. Highly, highly recommend this book AFTER you’ve thoroughly digested his first book “Boards That Make a Difference”, which I think is essential to fully understanding the principles of Policy Governance.

Our large, local swim club is going through the process of implementing Policy Governance. This book, along with others by Carver provided the knowledge basis for making a move to this much different, but also much more logical approach to governance. Our board was trained by a consultant who received Carver training. Don't expect this book to be an easy, fun read unless you think that reinventing your board is a fun (and meaningful) thing to do as I did. Carver's approach provides context for what an organization wants to achieve (Ends) and for how it will achieve it (Means) in a disciplined but simple approach. It allows the board to represent owners and lead rather than just keep up with and instruct staff.

Dated but useful guide to alternative board structure. Requires engaged board and CEO to execute successfully but very useful if your board can manage organizational requirements.

I don't often review Amazon purchases. This one was different. It literally changed the direction of the organization that I serve in. I read it in one sitting (not recommended, I had a migraine the next day). Buy it now!

Helpful. Carver needs to organize the material a bit better. It is hard to make sense of the various key concepts because they are presented differently in different parts of the book.

Simply put, if you want your board to work better and create significant change...this is a must read!

Elegance insight and very much informative

I have not yet completed reading this new edition so this is initial views only. I have closely read and noted changes in a couple of chapters. First impressions are that the language has got less formal and therefore the book is greatly more readable, and less formidable for the first time serious investigator of governance and Policy Governance. Secondly the years between the first edition and this one has seen some maturing of Policy Governance and this shows in the book with an increased clarity around the description of the theory, and a much improved, and more complete description of ways to implement the model, and much more detail around those practical steps... the chapter on Monitoring Organisational Performance is just so hugely more intelligible in this edition. It is so pleasing to see an update of this outstanding book. This is a very worthwhile addition to your governance library whether you are a Policy Governance afficiando or not!

Thanks