---
title: "Board decision-making: Why st… | Insights — Lyoen & Partners"
url: https://lyoenandpartners.com/insights/board-decision-making-why-strategic-friction-matters
description: "IMD authors argue that smooth meetings and quick approvals are misleading signs of effectiveness, and that top-performing boards deliberately harness care…"
lang: en-US
---

Skip to content

Skip to main content

← Insights: https://lyoenandpartners.com/insights

Thursday, September 24, 2026strategy

# Board decision-making: Why strategic friction matters

IMD authors argue that smooth meetings and quick approvals are misleading signs of effectiveness, and that top-performing boards deliberately harness carefully managed conflict. It reframes constructive challenge as a productive design feature, helping chairs cultivate candor rather than false consensus in the boardroom.

Sources

IMD (https://www.imd.org/research-knowledge/board/books/high-performance-boards/)

Topic: Boardroom Performance: https://lyoenandpartners.com/insights/topic/boardroom-performance

## Structured data

```json
[
  {
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@type": "WebSite",
    "name": "Lyoen & Partners",
    "url": "https://lyoenandpartners.com"
  },
  {
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@type": "Organization",
    "name": "Lyoen and Partners Limited",
    "alternateName": "L&P",
    "url": "https://lyoenandpartners.com",
    "logo": "https://lyoenandpartners.com/apple-touch-icon.png",
    "description": "Fractional governance consulting and Board Operating System for mid-market CEOs and scale-up founders in Southeast Asia.",
    "foundingDate": "2024",
    "founder": {
      "@type": "Person",
      "name": "Sylvain Lyoen"
    },
    "address": {
      "@type": "PostalAddress",
      "addressLocality": "Wan Chai",
      "addressRegion": "Hong Kong"
    },
    "sameAs": [
      "https://www.linkedin.com/in/slyoen",
      "https://www.linkedin.com/company/lyoen-and-partners",
      "https://x.com/slyoen"
    ]
  },
  {
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@type": "Article",
    "headline": "Board decision-making: Why strategic friction matters",
    "description": "IMD authors argue that smooth meetings and quick approvals are misleading signs of effectiveness, and that top-performing boards deliberately harness carefully managed conflict. It reframes constructive challenge as a productive design feature, helping chairs cultivate candor rather than false consensus in the boardroom.",
    "datePublished": "2026-09-24",
    "url": "https://lyoenandpartners.com/insights/board-decision-making-why-strategic-friction-matters",
    "author": {
      "@type": "Organization",
      "name": "Lyoen & Partners Limited"
    },
    "publisher": {
      "@type": "Organization",
      "name": "Lyoen & Partners Limited",
      "url": "https://lyoenandpartners.com"
    }
  },
  {
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
    "itemListElement": [
      {
        "@type": "ListItem",
        "position": 1,
        "name": "Home",
        "item": "https://lyoenandpartners.com/"
      },
      {
        "@type": "ListItem",
        "position": 2,
        "name": "Insights",
        "item": "https://lyoenandpartners.com/insights"
      },
      {
        "@type": "ListItem",
        "position": 3,
        "name": "Board decision-making: Why strategic friction matters",
        "item": "https://lyoenandpartners.com/insights/board-decision-making-why-strategic-friction-matters"
      }
    ]
  }
]
```