Don Watson

Donald Watson, Director of Computing Services, Lakehead University

Donald D.W. "Don" Watson was a senior lecturer in mathematics in England before moving in 1967 to Lakehead University where he was Director of Computing Services until his retirement in 1996.

As of 1994 he lived at 44 South Hill Street, Thunder Bay, Ontario.

"He has served on numerous community and charitable boards, including Volunteer Thunder Bay, the George Jeffrey Children's Treatment Centre, Leadership Thunder Bay, the Lakehead Social Planning Council, the Ontario Association of Children's Rehabilitation Services, the Ontario Federation of Symphony Orchestras and the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra. Watson has also written The Board Member's Companion, available [as of 2004] at www.bcompanion.com [but as of 2019 is no longer available, it is still available on Internet Archive, however]" [2]

Specifics are always questionable and can never be infallible. Nevertheless, it is easier to achieve a good result by modifying specifics than by starting from generalities.

— Don Watson, The Board Member's Companion, 2004

The Board Member's Companion

In September 2004 he self-published a book online, drawing from his extensive experience on the boards of directors for not-for-profit organizations. Entitled The Board Member's Companion, it outlined a model that he intended to encompass all types of boards.

The ENDS Model provides a simple way of seeing all boards of all kinds as the same. It breaks the subject into components that are easy to explain. Success factors for each component can then be developed independently.

While most of these success factors support John Carver (“Boards that make a Difference”, Jossey-Bass, 1990), the differences enable the book to suit a much wider range of board types.

A board is defined as an entity with four parameters. Everything any board is, does or produces derives from one or other of these four parameters.

By adjusting parameter content, any board can be modeled. The underlined letters of the parameter titles form the acronym (“ENDS”).

— Don Watson, The Board Member's Companion

Letter	Title	Description
E	Ends/Framework	The high-level organizational activities and guidelines that are the Board's main responsibility.
N	Nurture	Board member work outside board meetings.
D	Decisions	Formal decision-making within board meetings.
S	aSsignment	The assignment of specific responsibilities and tasks to individuals and groups reporting to the Board.

How I wish I had this book when I started out as a member of my first board 30 years ago... I believe it is the best on the subject I have read.

— Dusty Miller, former Mayor of Thunder Bay

Contact

Don Watson's email as of 2004 is dwawatson@shaw.ca. [3]

Sources

[1] LinkedIn, 2019. [1] [2] Blue Pages; Professionally Speaking (The Publication of the Ontario College of Teachers), December 2004 [2] [3] The Board Member's Companion. Watson, Donald. Internet Archive, 26 November 2004.

[3]