Every organization carries structural decisions made decades ago, including geographic boundaries, committee architectures, dues models, and delegate formulas. They persist not because anyone re endorsed them, but because no one scheduled the question. The periodic review principle says that wherever the board holds authority to establish a structure, it inherits the duty to periodically verify the structure still serves.
Why old structures escape scrutiny
Existing arrangements benefit from a burden of proof asymmetry. Proposals for change must justify themselves; the status quo is presumed valid indefinitely. Without documented, recurring review, an organization cannot honestly say whether its structures align with membership trends, workload distribution, and strategic objectives, or merely with the world as it existed at their founding.
What review discipline looks like
A schedule, so each major structure is examined on a stated cycle, every few years, not upon crisis. Criteria, defined in advance and tied to mission service and member outcomes. Documentation, with findings recorded even when the conclusion is keep as is, because a documented keep is governance and an undocumented one is drift.
The payoff
Organizations with review discipline change before circumstances force them to, and their members see structures as chosen rather than inherited. Authority over structure is not a one time power. It is a standing responsibility, and calendars are how responsibilities survive turnover.
Mel Meier, DBA conducts board governance assessments for national and international member organizations, applying the Baldrige Excellence Framework alongside ASAE and BoardSource standards. She serves boards through board advisory, organizational diagnostics, and governance assessments at iB Consulting USA.
Mel Meier, DBA is an applied social scientist and the founder of iB Consulting USA, a woman owned, WOSB certified advisory firm. She advises boards, associations, and executive teams through board advisory, organizational diagnostics, speaking engagements in the United States and internationally, and organizational assessments.
