What Is The Difference Between A Shrewd Board of Directors and an Astute One?

Let us first get over with the definitions.

Shrewd is showing clever resourcefulness in practical matters while astute is quickly and critically discerning. To discern is further defined as: recognize small details, accurately tell the difference between similar things, and make intelligent judgements by using such observations.

In some instances, the words shrewd and astute are used interchangeably but at the board level, a frog and a toad are not one and the same creature despite their similar shapes. Generalisations and wide margins of error are 'unboardly'.

Let me use a little story to break the tie between shrewd and astute.

A new technology presented a significant revenue opportunity for an established company in the country. This new offering would also make it easier to grow into the region as it presented strong possibilities of establishing a presence in five countries.

Two guys were quickly commissioned to provide the organisation with the way forward albeit independently.

The first guy advised that the company should seize the moment and simultaneously launch the product and the organisation's presence in all five countries. It was a forgone conclusion that the solution would do well from the get-go.

The plan was for the established organisation to hire staff quickly, train and commission them in the respective countries. The projected numbers supported this first approach.

The second guy took a different route. He favoured a high impact launch in the country first before growing into the region. This approach was meant to help the organisation to learn and perfect everything about the product before replicating its successes in the other countries. This would help them to move even faster and with minimal wastage of resources.

The two guys were then exposed to each other's plans and both were given the chance to criticise the other's approach.

The man behind plan two asked this of plan one. Why should we have a simultaneous launch yet we own the patent and are in competition with no one else but ourselves?

Plan one's champion asked this of plan two. Why must we waste time in a market we already know of too well? Why don't we just replicate our approach in the proposed countries now?

The board then deliberated on the two options as it needed to go ahead with one of the two plans.

Finally, the board opted to go with the high impact launch in the parent country. The reasoning behind it was that the technology in question was homegrown and if it did not do well at home, chances were slim that it would do well out there. If it was embraced at home, it would be an easier sale out there.

The first proposal was from a shrewd man but the second one was from an astute guy. The board resonated with the astute guy's plan by lending to it its own astuteness. The toad lost and the frog won but momentarily.

The shrewd board sees the opportunity in moving in fast while the astute board gives the identified opportunity a proper analysis without lapsing into paralysis.

The results two months down the road were very pleasing and the board now approved a simultaneous launch in the other four countries. The hiring was undertaken quickly and everything happened like clockwork.

At the end of it all, both plans won. But the correct sequence helped carry the day. The shrewd plan was subjected to an astute approach and it worked perfectly well.

But there are instances when an astute plan must be subjected to a shrewd view. For instance, a detached product development committee may conclude on a product and hand it to the sales department for market placement.

The product may not do well because there was no proper accommodation of feedback from the sales team during the development stage. The market is unreceptive and it is quite clear that the sales team would have saved the day, had they been involved early enough. Salespeople are shrewd and as per the definition, they are cleverly resourceful.

Shrewdness rubs on quicker than astuteness. Shrewdness has more to do with navigating the terrain as is, while astuteness is about reflection and comes from experience. Shrewdness is about the application of quickly uploadable knowledge while astuteness is about the application of well-simmered knowledge. Astuteness won't win you a hot sale but shrewdness will.

Shrewdness won't deliver for you a sound business strategy but astuteness will.

New business acquisition depends on shrewdness backed up by astuteness. New business planning depends on astuteness backed up by shrewdness.

At the board level, a blend of shrewd and astute members produces a good mix as iron sharpens iron. Astute and shrewd are each other's litmus test. They work quite well side by side to produce smarter board results.

Let me now answer the question: what is the difference between a shrewd board of directors and an astute one?

A shrewd board is characterised by a packed conveyor belt of continuous initiatives and an insatiable urge to venture out while an astute board is characterised by continuous improvements on what already exists with an insatiable urge for pragmatism. A smart board accommodates both characteristics. Does yours have them?