The way your organization does things may not be the way everyone does them. Finally, recognize that one person cannot change a dynamic. The majority of people in the group have to recognize the problem and agree on a plan to work on it. Even then, it will be difficult. You don't just see the problem, agree to fix it, and then it's fixed.
Old habits die hard.
Going back to the vine analogy, finding the root of the vine is a more useful thing to do than unwinding all its many strands, but even then, digging it out completely can take a lot of time and several attempts. Organizational Solutions One organizational solution to many problems is to make sure there is money in the budget and time set aside to send staff and board members to trainings on effective board functioning. Board members' experience in working with a large group of people often comes only from their family, their workplace, their high school marching band, their bowling league or any number of other places where the rules and regulations are inappropriate to a healthy board. Having no other experience, they default to what they know. Executive directors should receive management training.