In RSG advisory calls with enterprise subscribers, the issue of governance keeps recurring.  Some organizations do it well; others not so much.  It's the ghost at many digital banquets. 

We could debate what governance means — I define it as legitimized structures and processes for making effective decisions — but everyone agrees governance is critical to long-term success.

I don't claim to be an expert on digital governance, but after a couple decades of helping people make technology decisions, I'll boil down many thoughts on the topic to one simile:

Governance is like sex.

• People tend to talk about it more than they do it, and...
• ...Most people don't do it as much as they'd like
• At least one key player needs to really want it or it will never get started
• There are many different ways to do it satisfactorily
• It's more art than science
• It's more successful in environments characterized by mutual trust
• Other people can give you a lot of good advice, but only you can make it happen
• You may not get it right at first, but that shouldn't stop you from trying
• A shared sense of fairness encourages repeatability
• In the end, bad governance is better than no governance at all

So hopefully at least by now you're smiling. If you have any particular (even X-rated) governance success stories you'd like to offer, please do using the social-sharing buttons below.

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