Book choice - Uncharted Spaces: Reset the Agenda. Reimagine the Boardroom
Shefaly M Yogendra gives a clear-eyed look at what really goes on in boardrooms – and why the old ways won’t cut it anymore
Boardrooms have long enjoyed a certain reputation: a cosy retirement home for non-executive directors (NEDs) in which to nod sagely, avoid rocking the boat too often, and adjourn in time for a decent lunch or a round of golf.
And if that image ever held true, it certainly doesn’t now. Not when businesses are being buffeted by everything from AI to climate shocks and geopolitical upheaval. Everything Everywhere All At Once.
But here’s a paradox. While 80% of NEDs think their current board structures aren’t fit to oversee AI (let alone work out how to programme the Blu-ray player), the same recent research from Gartner reveals that 91% believe AI is a major opportunity for their shareholders. In other words: everyone can see the waves coming; fewer are convinced they know how to surf them.
Ditto cyber-risk. While 93% see this as a direct threat, two-thirds admit their boards aren’t properly equipped to deal with it. And yet… 58% say they’re willing to take on more technology risk, not less.
Candid conversations with board members
This is the uneasy terrain Shefaly M Yogendra steps into with her new book Uncharted Spaces. A seasoned FTSE 250 board member, named a FTSE 100 Women to Watch, and former Chief Operating Officer, she too has sat at the table, through the good, bad, and occasionally ugly.
Here, she draws on hundreds of candid conversations with board leaders to show how decisions actually get made – where they work, and where they don’t. And having picked through these real-world case studies, the results, she says, ultimately show: the world has changed. But boards, by and large, haven’t kept up.
Uncharted Spaces, then, is an argument for a bold rethink. For Yogendra, it’s about bringing in genuinely diverse perspectives; becoming more fluent in technological risk – that is, understanding how fast-moving systems actually behave; and creating space for braver, and way more honest conversations. It means thinking laterally and showing “strategic stamina” – holding a steady wheel throughout the rapids.
As Fiona Hathorn, CEO of Women on Boards, says: “If you are serious about governance and making boards better, braver and more inclusive – this is the book for you. And Shefaly is the guide you want.”
Ali Catterall is an award-winning writer, journalist and filmmaker whose writing has featured in the Guardian, Time Out, GQ, Film4, Word magazine and the Big Issue, among many others. Ali is also the writer and director of the 2023 film Scala!!!
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