Management committees: how everyone benefits

What is a management committee for?

1. Major decisions are being discussed by experienced staff to arrive and the best possible decision.
2. Top seniors (primarily CEO/MD) share what they’ve worked, what they will work on and plans on future strategy.

A management committee is part of LiteBreeze’s commitment to meritocracy and radical transparency. It holds top seniors accountable and creates stability. It makes seniors aware of each others thoughts and priorities.

A prerequisite for becoming and staying a management committee member is:

1. That you have a track record at LB. You must have lead and seed through successful initiatives. You must be “proven believable” (to use a term from Ray Dalio).
2. That you speak up, fight for your opinion, can criticize seniors’ decisions.
3. That you are transparent and can handle criticism very well.
4. That you are highly knowledgeable within your field.
5. That you follow the LiteBreeze principles and its spirit.
6. That you are open-minded with your own team members

The management committee can recommend decisions, but the final decisions are of course ultimately taken by the final executive power (in our case the Group CEO). It’s not about “democratic decision-making” but rather well-informed decision-making by the final decision-maker.

The management committee should not be too large, to encourage open discussion. Currently it’s capped at six people.

At LiteBreeze we have a management committee consisting of: David (Founder, Owner, Group CEO), Ajith (Managing Director, India), and four additional senior staff from these departments: technical, recruitment and marketing.

Even though the meetings are held behind closed doors, most of what has been discussed is eventually shared broadly in the organization. This gives talented prospective members the chance of giving input, primarily to their immediate seniors but also directly to Group CEO and MD in periodic check-in meetings.

In typical organizations, most decisions are made either autocratically, by a top-down leader, or democratically, where everyone shares their opinions and those opinions that have the most support are implemented. Both systems produce inferior decision making. That’s because the best decisions are made by an idea meritocracy with believability-weighted decision making, in which the most capable people work through their disagreements with other capable people who have thought independently about what is true and what to do about it. Dalio, Ray. Principles: Life and Work (p. 371). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.

Recommended reading: Ray Dalio’s “Principles: Life and Work” and especially “Trust in Radical Truth and Radical Transparency” (p. 323 to 337).