When Size Matters in the Boardroom (at The Wall Street Journal Online)

If it’s too round, will the mood feel like no one’s in charge? Will long and thin render a leader impotent? As it turns out, the shape and size of a conference table might mean a lot more than expected about you, your company and its success or failure. That’s the warning, anyway, from Ruth Haag, president and CEO of a hazardous-waste consulting firm. Ms. Haag has written several books for supervisors, is publisher of an Ohio monthly called A Sandusky Bay Journal, and is a business-management consultant. Presumably, she’s sat around quite a few tables in her day. Barry Diller, for his part, installed this guitar-pick shaped conference table in his IAC/InterActiveCorp. headquarters. Bill Gates showed his voyeur side when he announced a 360-degree camera to mount in the center of tables for a panoramic view of participants.... [read full story]