Boards undergoing substantial changes.

• Position: Boards of directors - Christian and Timbers survey - Includes table on executive, director compensation trends

It's commonly held in corporate governance circles that directorship practices change almost glacially. But evidence suggests the pace is picking up markedly.

Consider a recent survey by Christian & Timbers, a leading executive and board search firm. During in-depth interviews with 74 CEOs of publicly traded companies, it found that 77 percent have had a change on their own board in the past year, and 65 percent expect further board changes in the next 12 months. Moreover, 70 of the companies surveyed are limiting the number of additional boards on which their CEOs can serve.

"These results indicate that we are well on the way to diversifying functional board experience and filling boardrooms with people other than CEOs," said Steve Mader, CEO of Christian & Timbers. "Companies must find highly qualified candidates that are COOs, CFOs, GMs and other senior executives."

The survey also revealed that just half of the companies have a formal board performance evaluation method. "As companies dig deeper to find new board candidates, a formal evaluation for existing members and...