AARG Policy Lab Launches Municipal & Organizational Solutions Suite

I've spent much of my career helping public agencies and School Districts work through decisions that are rarely as simple as choosing a product or solution. Technology may start the conversation, but planning, budgeting, strategy, and long-term impact are usually what matter most. Sometimes organizations simply need an experienced and trusted opinion from someone who understands both the technology and the business challenges behind it. The reality is that those conversations rarely stay focused on a single topic. Technology, facilities, public safety, operations, staffing, and long-term planning are all connected. Having the right people at the table to work through those challenges can make all the difference for the communities they serve. Those are the conversations I enjoy most. Helping clients understand their options, work through the tradeoffs, and make decisions they can feel confident about long after the project is complete.

4 mechanisms drive committee drift. Each has a control. INITIAL TILT: the chair states the pre-submitted range of views, not the recommendation. SOCIAL CALIBRATION: members record written positions before anyone speaks. SHARED-INFORMATION BIAS: the chair asks what is not in the paper. CONCURRENCE-SEEKING: the minutes log the initial range and what moved it. Pooled judgement, structured well, outperforms individuals. The same literature that documents polarisation documents that. The committee is a decision instrument, with known failure modes and available controls. The original article is linked in the first comment. #Governance #RiskManagement #BoardOfDirectors

A decision can seem finalized on paper but remain unsettled in practice. The minutes record approval. An owner and deadline are named. Yet, when implementation begins: • One partner believes the group approved only further exploration. • Another expects the decision to return to the agenda for final authorization. • A third has already started acting as though the matter is closed. This isn’t always a follow-through problem. The parties may never have actually reached the same decision. Before asking people to act, examine five elements: 1. Problem: Are the parties solving the same problem? 2. Priority: Which outcome governs when desirable goals compete? 3.  Authority: Who contributes, consents, decides, can block, and owns implementation? 4. Closure: What remains open, and what would legitimately bring the decision back for review? 5.  Commitment: What will each party do, especially when the outcome isn’t its preferred one? Ask the people responsible to answer these questions separately. Differences in their answers reveal what still needs to be negotiated, clarified, or decided. Reconsidering a decision can be responsible when evidence, conditions, or affected perspectives materially change. The risk is repeated renegotiation without an agreed basis for doing so. Our latest ISG Insight offers a practical decision-clarity check and a simple decision record for leaders working across institutions, sectors, and communities: https://lnkd.in/gg_4XaSr #ISGInsight

Growth is not merely getting bigger. Durable scale begins with systems that preserve standards as responsibility grows. Read the latest RCG editorial: https://lnkd.in/eHChM6rT #Enterprise #Strategy

Sometimes you reach the point where the remaining uncertainty cannot be eliminated by more analysis; it can only be managed with a decision rule.

Strategic paralysis strikes when the perceived cost of making the wrong call exceeds the cost of making no call at all! But in fast-moving markets, standing still is the highest-risk move on the board!

Same building. Same incident. Completely different outcomes. How does that happen? When a loss occurs, the difference in how successfully recovery unfolds is preparation. A pre-loss assessment gives teams clarity on systems, access, and priorities before an emergency — reducing delays, limiting scope creep, and keeping recovery costs under control. 🔺 Learn more about how proactive planning changes recovery outcomes. Read the whitepaper: https://lnkd.in/gV3nhVPb

Thoughts 💭 The safer option isn’t always the most effective one. Sometimes, avoiding every risk creates a bigger one: delayed decisions, slower processes, and missed opportunities. Good process isn’t about eliminating risk. It’s about knowing which risks are worth taking. 💡

Thinking outside the box with workarounds can be tempting but be cautious - what appears clever today may slow you down tomorrow. Spot the early indicators to keep your organisation moving forward.

Thinking outside the box with workarounds can be tempting but be cautious - what appears clever today may slow you down tomorrow. Spot the early indicators to keep your organisation moving forward.