This is tough love for any board or committee responsible for approving design and marketing.

Why do committees struggle to create (or approve) breakthrough design? There are many reasons, and all of them coincide in the boardroom.

We've watched committees of every flavor in action and we know what we're talking about. Committees come in many forms and have many purposes. But at some point, most committees are responsible for approving designs for logos, publications, signage, interiors and architecture. Having been a part of such committees myself (and being a designer), I am prepared to tell you why these groups are at a terrible disadvantage when asked to make design decisions. And before you tell me to "Shut up," I'm going to kick myself out of the boardroom too. I absolutely do not belong in any board meeting about the legalities of our business structure. I do not belong in any board meeting about reducing our energy costs. I do not belong in any board meeting about how to finance a future expansion.  Unfortunately, I'm in these meetings sometimes and I honor my colleagues by listening and trusting their expertise, experience and offering to refill coffee cups as needed.

And now back to the agenda of this paper:

Personalities and preferences are tough opponents when a project needs consensus to succeed. Complicating project approval is the innate hierarchy that dwells within every committee.

The committee trap is to assign this hierarchy to every decision process. It means that the same people hold sway over decisions regardless of their individual professional expertise or experience. Successful committee leaders know who should lead each individual decision. That's the real purpose of a committee anyhow -- to bring together a variety of experts in essential fields.

People want to be part of organizational change. Simply put, you either feel a part of the club or not. And change can be turbulent. Committees increase the potential for preliminary design leaks to employees or volunteers. Consequently, more opinions join the storm. Outsiders will tend to be skeptical simply because they weren't included in the process. There are always exceptions, but generally this dissent is common. The consensus to compromise eventually results. Driven by uninformed opinions, gut reactions, fear of change and frustration, proposed designs are stripped of originality, innovation and difference. And, once the design has been neutered, politically sanitized and homogenized, it gains approval.

Your organization deserves great design. Use your committee to identify two individuals with the best background and experience to make design judgements. Let your designer interview them individually if necessary and use that information to make a decision on your "design team leaders." These two people and the organization's director should be the only people involved in the initial process. Full board presentations can then be arranged where strategy is well-conceived and clearly presented to establish a context for proposed designs.

Competitor analysis that the boardmembers will recognize can be discussed to lend credence to a proposed design. This works. We do it several times each year for organizations ranging from National Non-Profits to small professional firms with 20 employees.