15 Sep What If We Did Away With The US Consitution?
Did you know the United State’s Constitution is only about 18 pages long? In spite of its brevity the interpretation of the Constitution and the debates sparked by its application are subject to wide debate. And yet, this remarkable document has provided the key principles of governance on which this country has stood for more than 200 years. Imagine what the world would be like if we decided to abolish it and do away with any and all governance structures. How long do you think it would take for there to be ‘blood in the streets’? Not very long, in my view.
And yet, this is largely the world of family business. They usually have no formal governance structures in place to manage the inevitable conflicts that emerge when family and business are combined. Predictably, the result is often chaos.
Clients that have just begun to work with me will often describe their family as “dysfunctional”. This is usually expressed more out of a sense of frustration than anything else. But the truth of the matter is that these people are simply reacting to the environment they’ve been placed in. In that sense, their behavior is not at all “dysfunctional”; in fact, just the opposite is true. People tend to respond to whatever circumstances they are exposed to, and in the case of a family enterprise that lacks a clear governance structure, what family members most often find themselves confronted with is chaos. In that context their so-called dysfunctionality is actually not only normal, but to be expected.
Lack of effective family business governance can lead to a lot of problems with the family firm. One of the best ways to manage and prevent conflict in the family owned enterprise is to create a durable governance system that is inclusive and participatory. If this sounds like something that might be an issue for you, lets get together and talk about it.
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