The ‘Governance’ Word Makes Me Cringe—But I Still Believe in It

Let’s start with a confession: I used to hate governance.

Not in theory. In practice. Viscerally. The word alone conjured committee meetings with stale coffee, policies longer than user manuals, and the slow death of good ideas. Governance felt like that coworker who showed up just in time to say “no.” Honestly, governance once made me consider switching careers to professional dog walking. Less red tape. Happier clients. But here’s the twist: I still believe in it. Fiercely. That tension—the cringe and the conviction—is what this post is really about.

Act 1: The Project That Taught Me to Hate Governance

Years ago, I led a tech initiative that was meant to be fast, bold, and transformative. We had the right people. A clear business case. Executive backing. And then—governance. Our idea got funneled into a committee review cycle that met monthly. One stakeholder couldn’t attend the first month. Another wanted more documentation. Legal had “concerns.” By the time we got a green light, the market had already moved on. The worst part? No one was trying to kill the project. They were trying to protect us. But the process designed to keep us aligned ended up tying us in knots. That’s when I started to flinch at the G-word.

Act 2: And Then Came the Chaos

So I tried the opposite. Lighter touch. Fewer gates. Minimal red tape. And for a while? It was glorious. No meetings. No approvals. Just momentum. Until it wasn’t. A team spun up a third-party integration without telling InfoSec. Another chose a dev stack that couldn’t scale. Someone promised a feature to a client that didn’t exist. We weren’t agile. We were aimless. We weren’t free. We were fragmented. That’s when I realized: governance isn’t the enemy. Bad governance is.

Act 3: What I Rebuilt (After Eating a Slice of Humble Pie)

So I started over. But this time, with less ego and more empathy. I stopped asking, “What policies do we need?” and started asking, “What do teams need to move with confidence?” I talked to them. I listened to what frustrated them—and what scared them. I looked for moments when things frayed. Patterns. Warning signs. And what emerged wasn’t a policy manual. It was a shared mindset:

• Move fast, but not blindly.
• Build trust before you need it.
• Align early, adapt often.
• Ask “what could go wrong?” before it does.

We started applying these principles instead of enforcing rigid checkpoints. We replaced approvals with playbooks. Architecture became conversation, not contention. Risk became a shared dialogue, not a parental scolding. We didn’t eliminate governance. We made it breathable. And, I’ll admit, a little beautiful.

Act 4: Governance, Reframed and Relatable

Here’s what I believe now:

Governance should be a lighthouse, not a leash.

It should illuminate the path, not pull people back. It should help you see around corners, not wrap you in caution tape. It should be there when the fog rolls in, not just when the auditors do. Done well, governance is what lets you scale without spinning out. It’s what turns smart, independent teams into a coordinated force. It’s the difference between a jam session and a symphony. Everyone’s playing—but now, it’s music. Some organizations are already there:

• Spotify uses golden paths, not mandates.
• Netflix bakes governance into culture, not checkpoints.
• Salesforce automates the boring so people can focus on the bold.

🎤 Your Turn: Let’s Go Deeper

Let’s not repeat ourselves. You already know the pain points. Let’s talk progress:

• What would your lighthouse look like? What principles guide the way in your org—even if the policies are a mess?
• When was the last time governance actually helped you make a better decision, faster?
• What’s a moment you realized, “Oh… this is why governance matters”?
• What rule or ritual did you ditch that made everything flow better?

What’s one move you made that actually made governance work—not just exist? Someone out there needs it.

🧠 Your advice might be exactly what someone else needs to hear. 💥 Your horror story might become their cautionary tale. 🛠️ Your small win might become someone else’s game changer. 👇 Drop it below. The mic’s yours. Let’s turn this comment section into a governance underground—less red tape, more real talk.