Our work in non-profit governance is based on years of extensive experience working with non-profit boards in numerous different areas (health care, financial services, and government) and a thorough understanding of best practices, including various schools of thought and methodologies.

Objectives
Building on the foundations of critical thinking and scenario-based planning, DSI offers a fresh approach to non-profit governance. First, discussion takes place on the cognitive biases that causes difficulties in the process of making good decisions (governance), both at the individual and the group level. In addition, DSI offers practical tools to surface and overcome these biases and improve the decision making process as well as the institutional ability to distinguish weak signals from random noise. Next, DSI provides a unique six-step process to develop and implement the vision of the non-profit organization. Through a process of "disciplined imagination," DSI helps an organization define the impact it realistically can and should have in light of external conditions, the current capabilities and additional necessary capabilities to accomplish the mission. This framework is used to provide board members and managers with a clear responsibility matrix for accomplishing the vision of the organization. Finally, DSI addresses a series of implementation issues that often trip up even experienced boards, ranging from agenda setting to CEO and board succession.

Benefits
Participants will:

• Understand both individual and collective biases that trip up even the best decision makers.
• Use insights to expedite and improve the decision making process and create a constructive environment that promotes conflicts of ideas over conflicts among individuals.
• Learn to use a six-step scenario-based process for developing and implementing a compelling yet feasible vision.
• A series of best practices tools that will enable your board to meet with greater efficiency and focus on the "reason for being" rather than be mired in minutia and tactical detail.

Case Study
Ten-Year Strategic Plan
A publicly available example from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science in the College of Engineering at Ohio State University where they incorporated DSI's process.