A board member of Research in Motion offers an interesting new take on the company's implosion.

There was no way to avoid disaster, the board member says, because the two co-CEOs who flew RIM into a mountain were absolutely the best people for the job.

The Globe and Mail:

Today, the 55-year-old [board member Roger Martin, dean of business at the U of Toronto] is part of a RIM board under fire, facing criticism from investors and analysts who say it failed to take the dramatic steps needed to stem the decline of the Waterloo, Ont., maker of the BlackBerry smartphone.

The combative Mr. Martin forcefully rejects that view, challenging the notion that last month’s resignations of the embattled Mr. Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis as co-CEOs and chairmen was a case of too little, too late.

“I laugh at the vast majority of critics when they say ‘Oh, you should have made this CEO transition, like, four years ago.’ Yeah, right – like, to who?” Mr. Martin scoffs over lunch at Mideastro, a favourite restaurant in Toronto’s Yorkville.

Read the whole thing >

So, basically, in the view of RIM's board, RIM's critics are fools who don't understand that there was absolutely no way to save the company.

And maybe that's true.

But it's too bad RIM's co-CEOs didn't realize that! They could have saved employees and shareholders a lot of heartache, frustration, and losses.

SEE ALSO: RIM's Stock Crashes To 7-Year Low As BlackBerry-Maker Stays On Track To Be The Next Palm

(via Paul Kedrosky)