Sympathy For The Devil

The boardroom needs to become less cozy for directors. A good place to start would be for the principles of the courtroom – a balanced discussion and examination of facts – to find their way to the board table. To that end, every company board should appoint a “contrarian” director. On any important recommendation, the contrarian would consider a complete range of outcomes, including “extreme” scenarios, investigate the issues without bias, and recommend a truly independent and impartial course of action. The contrarian would outline the case against the recommendation through a written report that would then become the basis for a board discussion.