Concept VIII

on

GB Concept VIII. The Trustees of the General Service Board act in two primary capacities. (a) With respect to the larger matters of overall policy and finance, they are the principal planners and administrators. They directly manage these affairs. (b) But with respect to the executive services provided by the General Service Office, the relation of the trustees is mainly that of custodial oversight which they exercise through their ability to appoint staff who are charged with carrying out their policies.

World Service Long Form VIII. The Trustees of the General Service Board act in two primary capacities: (a) With respect to the larger matters of over-all policy and finance, they are the principal planners and administrators. They and their primary committees directly manage these affairs. (b) But with respect to our separately incorporated and constantly active services, the relation of the Trustees is mainly that of full stock ownership and of custodial oversight which they exercise through their ability to elect all directors of these entities.

World Service Short Form VIII. The trustees are the principal planners and administrators of overall policy and finance. They have custodial oversight of the separately incorporated and constantly active services, exercising this through their ability to elect all the directors of these entities.

Application in AA

  • The basic role of the General Service Board (the 'Board'):
    • To execute Conference's final decisions on larger matters of general policy and finance
      • By carrying out planning and administration
        • Itself
        • Through its primary committees
      • By delegating planning and administration
        • To 'separately incorporated and constantly active services'
        • ... over which it exercises custodial oversight
  • Why?
  • The Board is concerned with five 'large' and 'serious' questions:
    • The two general domains that Conference decisions concern
      • Policy ('what to do')
      • Finance ('the resources with which to do it')
    • The two practical domains of its activities
      • Group relations (internal)
      • Public relations (external)
    • The virtue of leadership (see Concept IX)
  • There must be extensive delegation because
    • There is a vast amount of practical work to do
    • These five 'large' and 'serious' questions can and should take up all their time
    • The Trustees cannot do the practical work as well
    • They are present and available only irregularly
    • The practical work requires constant attention
    • The Board's activities must not be subject to 'constant distraction and interference' (from below ... or above)
  • General principle governing the Board's action:
    • Care
    • Deliberation
    • Skill
  • The three stages of the Board's work
    • Plan
    • Execute: this is the function that is chiefly delegated
    • Manage (= monitor, track the results, adjust the course, feed back)
  • The corporations
    • They have directors
    • The directors are in charge of executive function
    • Some of them are trustees
    • Each has its own
      • Charter
      • Working capital
      • Executive
      • Staff
      • Offices
      • Employees
  • The role of the Board in relation to the corporations
    • Mediating in difficult situations
    • Ensure that the corporation remains within the policy and financial bounds established
    • Resembles the position of a holding company
  • The problem the corporate approach seeks to solve
    • Consider an alternative structure for managing the two corporations:
      • Imagine: the Board has a number of different subcommittees covering different areas
      • And all of these subcommittees are trying to dictate to the corporations what to do
      • The corporations are bound to receive conflicting directives
      • The policy will tend to follow the money: the finance committee will effectively be in charge
      • The autonomy of the corporation's directors and its staff is compromised
  • The characteristics of the structure established
    • Lines of authority are clear (no crossing lines, no double-headed management)
    • Job descriptions are clear at each level
    • Authority, responsibility, and rights are clear at each level
  • Alternative #1: Why the Board cannot be an operating corporation with multiple departments
    • The executive head (the Chair) would have to:
      • Be familiar with every department
      • Be on the job most of the time
      • In order to:
        • Coordinate the departments
        • Mediate differences
    • The Chair, however, is an unpaid volunteer
    • The requirements of such a role are therefore at odds with the means available to its incumbent
  • Alternative #2: Engage a full-time manager to actively manage the enterprises as departments of the Board
    • Such a manager could not be a trustee
    • He could not, therefore, be the Chair
    • He would have huge responsibility but little authority
    • The Trustees, who would have the authority, are largely physically absent
  • Alternative #3: Have a single corporation with all services
    • Excessive concentration of power and money
    • ... which tends to lead to abuse
    • Too many different skills required (magazine, book publisher, and office)
    • Hard to find a single, competent executive director
  • The GB structure is actually a mixture of #2 and #3
  • Current set-up in the USA:
    • AA World Services, Inc.
      • Oversees the General Service Office ...
      • ... and its service activities in the U.S. and Canada
      • Communications with AA service boards and offices around the world
      • Publishes and distributes AA's books, pamphlets, and other items
    • AA Grapevine, Inc.
      • Publishes the AA Grapevine
      • ... the Spanish equivalent
      • And related items
    • Finances split between:
      • The Board's Reserve Fund
      • The two corporations
  • The GB structure:
    • Legal structure:
      • The Board is formed as a limited charitable company
      • It has a memorandum and articles of association
      • The fellowship has no legal power over the Board
      • Groups, intergroups, and regions are informal, autonomous, unaffiliated groups with no independent constitution
      • They can nominate but not appoint to the Board
      • They are not accountable to the Board
      • They are not accountable to the Charities Commission
      • The Charities Commission overlooks this informal affiliation as long as they remain unincorporated
    • The Board directly manages:
        • The service office
        • The printing and publication of AA books and pamphlets
        • The distribution of books
        • Internal matters (national conventions, conference arrangements)
        • External communications
      • Through a General Manager
    • It has four main committees
      • Finance
      • Internal communications
      • External communications
      • Executive
    • It has sub-committees responsible for particular areas of service

Application in life

  • Who I am is a member of the worldwide fellowship: I am dissolved into that whole
  • However: I have a role in the world
  • Under Concepts II and VI, 'final decisions on large matters of general policy and finance' are made in my spirit mind
  • This is my conscience, which taps into the universal consciousness and draws down from it
  • This is effected through Step II
  • These decisions are then passed to my physical mind, for:
    • Planning
      • What are we going to do?
    • Execution
      • Do it!
      • (Or delegate it!)
    • Management
      • Monitor
      • Track the results
      • Adjust the course
      • Feedback
  • The spirit mind / conscience is concerned with the larger decisions
    • This requires peace, quiet, and contemplative connection with God
    • Decisions at this level are largely governed by spiritual principles
  • The physical mind / intellect is concerned with practical implementation
    • This requires the link to God to be maintained
    • However most of this work operates through acquired routines
    • Decisions made at this level are rarely deliberate and conscious
    • The thousands of operations involved in, for instance, writing a letter are largely automatic
    • If necessary, the two main operational tools of 'ask' and 'consult' (Concept III) remain available
    • Decisions at this level are largely governed by material principles (how the world works)
    • Happiness and calm help the function of intellect
    • But the intellect can still function well under great emotional or other duress
    • ... in contrast to spirit.
  • Two levels of execution
    • Do it myself
    • Delegate the job
      • Internally (family, friends, group)
      • Externally (contractors, professionals)
  • I do not have to do everything
  • If I try and do everything, I will become overwhelmed
  • Delegate as much as possible, in order to be left with the five main questions:
    • Implementation (planning, execution, and management) of
      • Policy
      • Finance
    • In relation to
      • Internal relations (internal order, relationship with God)
      • External relations (relations with others and the world)
    • Exercise of leadership (see Concept IX)
  • Delegation:
    • If I get too involved in minor matters, these major matters are left unattended
    • But supervise the delegation at appropriate intervals and in appropriate ways (custodial oversight)
  • This necessitates the avoidance of distraction and interference, through
    • Detachment from levels above
      • I seek guidance from the spirit mind
      • But do not go much further!
      • I am part of the worldwide fellowship / the universal consciousness
      • But I cannot possibly get my head around it
      • Excessive contemplation of abstract, theological, and ontological questions tends to paralyse the executive function
    • Detachment from levels below
      • Directly manage / have custodial oversight of:
        • Structural aspects of my life
          • The physical infrastructure
            • House
            • Home
            • Transportation
            • Physical body
              • Health
              • Appearance
          • The financial infrastructure
            • Income
            • Expenditure
            • Assets
            • Liabilities
            • Budgets and forecasts
            • Long-term financial planning (pensions and investments)
            • Working capital
            • Prudent reserve
        • But don't become attached, overly concerned with, or bogged down in these
        • They are not the purpose of life
        • They need to be adequate to the higher purpose
        • But no more
    • This requires trusting:
      • The universal consciousness (which represents God) to take care of the overall plan
      • Other people to take care of detail
  • My day gets split into three elements
      • Conference / conscience / spirit mind / larger decisions: a tiny part of the day
      • Board / intellect / physical mind / plan and manage: a greater part of the day
      • Sub-committees / corporations / execute / physical mind + physical body: most of the day
    • These should be in balance
  • Other principles
    • Avoid the excessive concentration of money and power
    • Avoid confusion through conflicting interests
    • Therefore:
      • Keep relationships separate:
          • Don't hire AAs to do jobs
          • Don't sleep around in AA
          • Don't make friends with sponsees
        • Each element must be separate and capable of being jettisoned without excessively affecting other areas
      • Avoid the accumulation of excessive funds and power
        • Disburse surplus funds to good causes
        • Do not accumulate excessive material obligations or ties
        • This will limit spiritual freedom
        • The decision to follow a higher path necessarily involves renouncing other paths
        • If God's will is for a person to assume very heavy material obligations or ties, then so be it
        • But it is legitimate to 'travel light' in order to be fit for other types of God's work
    • The Board's three qualities:
      • Care
        • Look after the detail
      • Deliberation
        • Respond, don't react
      • Skill
        • Identify, acquire, and deploy the requisite skills
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