{"id":11740,"date":"2026-01-28T10:07:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T09:07:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paradigm21.ch\/?p=11740"},"modified":"2026-02-06T12:05:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T11:05:34","slug":"governance-is-boring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paradigm21.ch\/en\/resources\/articles\/governance-is-boring\/","title":{"rendered":"Governance is boring\u2026 really?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s be honest: you\u2019ve probably rolled your eyes when hearing the word governance<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>

We think of endless meetings, rigid processes, or consultants who complicate what should be obvious. Governance<\/em> is a word that more often evokes paperwork than collective power.<\/p>

And yet, it may be precisely because we don\u2019t talk about it<\/em> that so many organizations exhaust themselves by misunderstanding one another. Because governance is not a luxury reserved for large organizations. It is not technocratic jargon. And it is not a necessary evil once you become \u201ctoo big.\u201d <\/p>

It is what allows a group of people to function as a society at work. And when it is well designed\u2014alive, explicit, and evolutive\u2014governance doesn\u2019t get in the way. It enables. <\/p>

The allergy to anything that looks like structure<\/strong><\/h3>

In reality, talking about governance always means talking about structure, whether we like it or not. Because any form of governance takes shape through rules, roles, and processes\u2014whether explicit or implicit. <\/p>

In many organizations, as soon as words like structure, process, or rule are mentioned, faces tighten. The collective imagination immediately associates these words with rigidity, loss of autonomy, and bureaucracy. <\/p>

That reaction is understandable: I\u2019ve worked in organizations myself where procedures suffocated common sense.<\/p>

So when we dream of a modern, agile, or \u201cliberated\u201d organization, the reflex is often to wipe the slate clean: remove hierarchy, lighten processes, encourage initiative. We believe that by removing rigidity, something fluid and human will naturally emerge. But instead, we end up creating chaos.<\/strong><\/p>

Structure is a false enemy<\/strong><\/h3>

Removing structure without putting a new framework in place creates a vacuum. And that vacuum rarely fills with clarity or collective momentum. It fills with underlying tensions, confusion about who does what, and more or less unspoken power dynamics. <\/p>

In incomplete transformations, the observation I often hear is: \u201cBefore, the boss made the call. Now everyone speaks, no one decides\u2014everyone shares their opinion, and nothing moves forward.\u201d<\/p>

We thought we were freeing the organization by clipping the wings of hierarchy, and we discover something unsettling: freedom without structure is not autonomy\u2014it\u2019s anarchy. Structure was not the problem<\/em>. In some cases, it was the very thing holding everything together<\/em>. <\/p>

Culture cannot compensate for the absence of structure<\/strong><\/h3>

This is a common misunderstanding: as long as governance isn\u2019t named, we believe it doesn\u2019t exist. In reality, every organization has a way of operating \u2014 either explicit or implicit. In organizations where nothing is formalized, implicit culture governs. Unwritten rules, ingrained habits, and unclear zones of influence. And that\u2019s where tensions arise: we no longer know who has authority over what, when to consult, when to decide. <\/p>

Kindness has become the favorite alibi of organizations that don\u2019t dare to set a clear framework.<\/strong><\/h3>

The blurrier the framework, the more culture is asked to compensate. People are expected to self-regulate and constantly adjust\u2014without being given the reference points to do so. And this creates fatigue and frustration. <\/p>

Like that meeting where three people kept passing the decision back and forth, unsure who was actually legitimate to decide. \u201cI thought it was you,\u201d \u201cNo, I thought it was all of us\u2026\u201d The result: nothing was decided. Everyone left frustrated, with a sense of confusion\u2014and no one named the real issue. <\/p>

Behind a fluid and human-centered facade, old hierarchical patterns and power games still linger. And fundamental mechanisms to evolve roles, regulate tensions, and address real issues are often missing. <\/p>

When structure becomes visible and explicit, culture can breathe\u2014and relational energy is freed instead of being wasted patching the leaks of an absent framework.<\/p>

What if governance were a necessary interface?<\/strong><\/h3>

Changing perspective is already a shift in posture. Governance should not be seen as an administrative layer added<\/em> on top of operations. It is the operating system. <\/p>

Not a rigid instruction manual, but a necessary interface <\/strong>between individuals and the collective. A set of agreements, roles, processes, decision-making modes, and ways to regulate tensions. In short, the organic framework that allows an organization to evolve without falling apart. <\/p>

In this view, governing is not about control. It\u2019s about creating the conditions for people to act with discernment, within a clear, adaptable, shared framework. This isn\u2019t about size or maturity: every team needs a minimum level of governance to decide, coordinate, and handle disagreements. <\/p>

\u201cFreeing structures by structuring freedoms\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>

This sentence has become something of a Paradigm21 slogan, because it\u2019s away from dichotomies and extremes that a more mature, nuanced relationship to governance emerges.<\/p>

No longer: structure = rigidity, freedom = chaos.<\/p>

But rather: structure = support<\/strong>, freedom = discernment<\/strong>.<\/p>

In other words: make structure evolutive, readable, and supportive\u2014so that the freedom to act, decide, and propose becomes a lived reality. This means setting a framework clear enough so that freedom doesn\u2019t turn into competition, paralysis, or fragmentation. <\/p>

When tensions become drivers<\/strong><\/h3>

As soon as governance becomes visible \u2014 even in simple, pragmatic ways \u2014 the effects are quickly felt.<\/p>

Less mental load<\/strong>: everyone knows what falls within their role, what is expected of them, and what can be delegated or shared.<\/p>

More real autonomy\u2014not just an empty promise. <\/strong> Because autonomy doesn\u2019t mean acting alone: it relies on clarity around roles, boundaries, and room to maneuver.<\/p>

Decisions become more fluid<\/strong>: we know who decides, on what, and who to consult. And if a process no longer fits, it can be adjusted. Together. <\/p>

And above all: fewer relational tensions<\/strong>. When the rules of the game are clear, there\u2019s no need to interpret. We no longer need to sharpen our antennas to guess what\u2019s really going on. We can talk about the framework\u2014even disagree with it\u2014without things becoming personal. <\/p>

But the role of explicit governance doesn\u2019t stop there. It doesn\u2019t seek to eliminate tensions, but to make them visible and transformable<\/strong>. Because a tension, in itself, is not a problem. It\u2019s information \u2014 a signal that a role, a rule, an interface, or a way of working could evolve. It\u2019s an energy for movement \u2014 but one that needs a support to be expressed. That support is structure. <\/p>

Tensions are the driving forces of change, and structure is the ground that makes change possible.<\/strong><\/p>

That\u2019s why well-designed governance doesn\u2019t freeze things. It evolves with what is trying to emerge. It captures weak signals and everyday frictions, and channels them to adjust the system, refine it, and make it more alive. <\/p>

A living organization is not one that avoids tensions, but one that knows how to use them to grow.<\/strong><\/p>

Toward a structure in service of life<\/strong><\/h3>

An organization is not a machine, but a living system, in constant interaction with its environment. That\u2019s the difference between an organization designed as a stack of boxes and one thought of as an ecosystem. In a systemic approach, structure is not rigid\u2014it\u2019s a living architecture that allows interactions, learning, and adjustments to flow. <\/p>

Structure must therefore be clear enough to support the system \u2014 and flexible enough not to constrain it. But it still needs to be adapted to the reality on the ground \u2014 not imposed from the outside. This is not about copying a \u201cturnkey\u201d model (holacracy, sociocracy, or any other), but about learning to structure organically, starting from what is already there: culture, tensions, real dynamics. <\/p>

Sometimes it starts with a diagnosis: unclear roles or decisions that are stuck. Sometimes with experiments around feedback or collective decision-making. <\/p>

A transformation process often consists of bringing life back where everything had become frozen. This doesn\u2019t happen with a magic wand \u2014 or without friction. The path is necessarily incremental \u2014 and sometimes uncomfortable. Because structuring differently also brings to the surface what had remained hidden: blind spots, tensions, and inherited patterns we\u2019d rather ignore. <\/p>

But making structure \u201calive\u201d is not a luxury\u2014it\u2019s what allows an organization to stay in motion, adapt without losing itself, grow without becoming rigid, and ultimately survive.<\/p>

In conclusion<\/strong><\/h3>

It\u2019s not governance that slows organizations down. It\u2019s its absence \u2014 or its ambiguity. <\/p>

It\u2019s not structure that prevents agility. It\u2019s the illusion that we could do without it. <\/p>

A well-designed architecture doesn\u2019t freeze what\u2019s alive. It supports it. It makes initiative, cooperation, and shared responsibility possible. It protects collective intentions from ego games and inherited reflexes. It allows everyone to contribute without getting lost in ambiguity. <\/p>

It also provides a framework to transform what needs to be transformed. Because without structure, even the most fertile tensions have nowhere to be expressed or adjusted. <\/p>

And above all, it creates fertile ground for evolution: a clear, adaptable, inhabited framework.<\/p>

So if you\u2019re going in circles, running into ambiguity, or carrying everything on a few shoulders\u2026 it may be time to ask a simple question:<\/p>

What if the real tipping point were the way you think about \u2014 and inhabit \u2014 structure?<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s be honest: you\u2019ve probably rolled your eyes when hearing the word governance. We think of endless meetings, rigid processes, or consultants who complicate what…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":11794,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[113],"class_list":["post-11740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-collective-performance",""],"yoast_head":"\nGovernance is boring\u2026 really? - Paradigm21<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Governance is not a necessary evil. 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I founded Paradigm21 in 2018 to share 3 years of experience in creating and managing a \\\"distributed\\\" organization. I am committed to supporting the transformation of our society and its institutions. What motivated me to choose to accompany the emergence of a new paradigm Many of us are becoming increasingly aware of the environmental impact of our lifestyles, our food consumption, our energy use and our carbon footprint. A good number of years ago and like so many others, I started a (too) slow shift of my habits towards a fairer, more local, more sustainable consumption. Even though I still see many inconsistencies in my life choices, I am trying to bring awareness and acceptance of my imperfection. It would be wonderful if everyone took this same path, at their own pace and in their own way. Unfortunately however, this would not be enough. The challenges facing humanity and our planet are much greater, whether we are talking about global warming, the disappearance of species or the socio-economic disparities between the different layers of our societies as well as between rich and poor countries. I fear that the individual actions and citizen movements that are underway are far too slow to respond to the urgency of the current situation. In other words, if we don't find a way to get the economy on board, the future does not look good. However, the capitalist system as it was established in the 20th century tends to systematically privilege short-term gains and the creation of shareholder value to the detriment of any other measure. I am not advocating killing capitalism, but there is one principle that needs to be urgently reviewed. It is the one that allows companies to redistribute economic gains to shareholders while the negative impact of economic activities on the environment, health and society is ignored in the balance sheet of economic activity and becomes the responsibility of governments that try as best they can to limit the damage, but without giving themselves the means to do so since they are themselves primarily at the service of the economy. I am certain that the solution will come from the companies themselves and the people within them. What is needed to ensure that the awareness and lifestyle choices of individual employees are also translated into responsible behavior by the companies in which they work? There is very little missing in my opinion. What is needed is a shift in decision-making power from a small group of shareholders to a larger number of employees who are committed to taking their individual and collective responsibilities seriously. It is therefore urgent to put people at the center of the organization and to make room for collective intelligence in strategic choices. But this should not be at the expense of shareholders. As consumption choices also evolve, it will sooner or later become a simple matter of economic survival to be committed to a sustainable activity rather than continuing with the status quo. The new cultural and structural paradigm of organizations that we are accompanying is certainly a way to accelerate this change by starting to put people at the center. I am convinced that the transformation of organizations is a Trojan horse in the world of business and public authorities to enable a societal transformation on a much larger scale. The professional career that led me to do this activityLe parcours professionnel qui m'a amen\u00e9 \u00e0 exercer mon activit\u00e9 With an engineering degree and an MBA in my pocket, nothing predestined me for this line of work. I dreamt about it for a while during my one-year training as a professional coach, but as I didn't know where to start, I did absolutely nothing. I then moved into conscious entrepreneurship by co-founding ArboLife (the forerunner of Paradigm21) in 2015, which was recognized as a pioneer of the emerging paradigm of organizations in Switzerland. In 2018, it was after following a multitude of synchronicities that I was first inspired to co-create a training on distributed organizations, then attracted our first customers and finally co-found Paradigm21 by inviting other members to come and co-construct the company that we currently know. What is interesting about this experience is that there was never a strategy or goal to do coaching or training in this area, we just responded to what came our way by putting one foot in front of the other. Along the way, however, we have developed common visions for Paradigm21 but these are regularly updated to reflect the reality we experience. The biggest challenge I've faced in my evolution Although I was the initiator of new organizational practices in the different structures that I co-founded, I kept tripping over my old automatisms inherited from a previous career and the management jobs that I held. And today, almost 6 years after I started and despite my experience in training and accompanying other organizations on this same path, I continue to discover behaviors that I have in certain situations that do not support our own way of operating. Every time I think I've covered all the mistakes that can be made on this path of internal and organizational transformation, I stumble upon one more example of a trap I've fallen into. It is thanks to the tensions that my behaviors generate and to the feedbacks of my colleagues, which can be both benevolent and sometimes a little ruthless, that new opportunities for my own evolution are revealed. My favorite book I have many \\\"favorite\\\" books, but one of my latest finds is \\\"The Surrender Experiment\\\" by Micheal Singer. I devoured this book in the summer of 2021 and loved the way the author recounts a 30+ year career path in which he let go of every major decision. That is, instead of having a strategy and executing it by putting aside \\\"non-priority\\\" opportunities, he systematically accepted the opportunities that life presented to him, even if (and especially if) they went against what he had consciously chosen to do. And the result speaks for itself. Following one synchronicity after another, the sequence of events that have occurred is mind-boggling and of a nature that we, too, should trust life and let things that arise spontaneously unfold. If I could have a super power, it would be... To have a magic wand that allows me to free all the people I interact with from limiting beliefs that they are not aware of and open the doors to a world in which they are free to be who they really are and do what matters to them. Of course, I would first test this magic wand on myself. One thing from my bucket list To live a minimalist life in a Tiny House close to nature and with a garden to grow most of the fruits and vegetables to feed myself. The goal is not necessarily autonomy, but at least to drastically reduce my carbon footprint in relation to my consumption and my lifestyle.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/paradigm21.ch\/en\/team\/marc-mathys\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Governance is boring\u2026 really? - Paradigm21","description":"Governance is not a necessary evil. 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I founded Paradigm21 in 2018 to share 3 years of experience in creating and managing a \"distributed\" organization. I am committed to supporting the transformation of our society and its institutions. What motivated me to choose to accompany the emergence of a new paradigm Many of us are becoming increasingly aware of the environmental impact of our lifestyles, our food consumption, our energy use and our carbon footprint. A good number of years ago and like so many others, I started a (too) slow shift of my habits towards a fairer, more local, more sustainable consumption. Even though I still see many inconsistencies in my life choices, I am trying to bring awareness and acceptance of my imperfection. It would be wonderful if everyone took this same path, at their own pace and in their own way. Unfortunately however, this would not be enough. The challenges facing humanity and our planet are much greater, whether we are talking about global warming, the disappearance of species or the socio-economic disparities between the different layers of our societies as well as between rich and poor countries. I fear that the individual actions and citizen movements that are underway are far too slow to respond to the urgency of the current situation. In other words, if we don't find a way to get the economy on board, the future does not look good. However, the capitalist system as it was established in the 20th century tends to systematically privilege short-term gains and the creation of shareholder value to the detriment of any other measure. I am not advocating killing capitalism, but there is one principle that needs to be urgently reviewed. It is the one that allows companies to redistribute economic gains to shareholders while the negative impact of economic activities on the environment, health and society is ignored in the balance sheet of economic activity and becomes the responsibility of governments that try as best they can to limit the damage, but without giving themselves the means to do so since they are themselves primarily at the service of the economy. I am certain that the solution will come from the companies themselves and the people within them. What is needed to ensure that the awareness and lifestyle choices of individual employees are also translated into responsible behavior by the companies in which they work? There is very little missing in my opinion. What is needed is a shift in decision-making power from a small group of shareholders to a larger number of employees who are committed to taking their individual and collective responsibilities seriously. It is therefore urgent to put people at the center of the organization and to make room for collective intelligence in strategic choices. But this should not be at the expense of shareholders. As consumption choices also evolve, it will sooner or later become a simple matter of economic survival to be committed to a sustainable activity rather than continuing with the status quo. The new cultural and structural paradigm of organizations that we are accompanying is certainly a way to accelerate this change by starting to put people at the center. I am convinced that the transformation of organizations is a Trojan horse in the world of business and public authorities to enable a societal transformation on a much larger scale. The professional career that led me to do this activityLe parcours professionnel qui m'a amen\u00e9 \u00e0 exercer mon activit\u00e9 With an engineering degree and an MBA in my pocket, nothing predestined me for this line of work. I dreamt about it for a while during my one-year training as a professional coach, but as I didn't know where to start, I did absolutely nothing. I then moved into conscious entrepreneurship by co-founding ArboLife (the forerunner of Paradigm21) in 2015, which was recognized as a pioneer of the emerging paradigm of organizations in Switzerland. In 2018, it was after following a multitude of synchronicities that I was first inspired to co-create a training on distributed organizations, then attracted our first customers and finally co-found Paradigm21 by inviting other members to come and co-construct the company that we currently know. What is interesting about this experience is that there was never a strategy or goal to do coaching or training in this area, we just responded to what came our way by putting one foot in front of the other. Along the way, however, we have developed common visions for Paradigm21 but these are regularly updated to reflect the reality we experience. The biggest challenge I've faced in my evolution Although I was the initiator of new organizational practices in the different structures that I co-founded, I kept tripping over my old automatisms inherited from a previous career and the management jobs that I held. And today, almost 6 years after I started and despite my experience in training and accompanying other organizations on this same path, I continue to discover behaviors that I have in certain situations that do not support our own way of operating. Every time I think I've covered all the mistakes that can be made on this path of internal and organizational transformation, I stumble upon one more example of a trap I've fallen into. It is thanks to the tensions that my behaviors generate and to the feedbacks of my colleagues, which can be both benevolent and sometimes a little ruthless, that new opportunities for my own evolution are revealed. My favorite book I have many \"favorite\" books, but one of my latest finds is \"The Surrender Experiment\" by Micheal Singer. I devoured this book in the summer of 2021 and loved the way the author recounts a 30+ year career path in which he let go of every major decision. That is, instead of having a strategy and executing it by putting aside \"non-priority\" opportunities, he systematically accepted the opportunities that life presented to him, even if (and especially if) they went against what he had consciously chosen to do. And the result speaks for itself. Following one synchronicity after another, the sequence of events that have occurred is mind-boggling and of a nature that we, too, should trust life and let things that arise spontaneously unfold. If I could have a super power, it would be... To have a magic wand that allows me to free all the people I interact with from limiting beliefs that they are not aware of and open the doors to a world in which they are free to be who they really are and do what matters to them. Of course, I would first test this magic wand on myself. One thing from my bucket list To live a minimalist life in a Tiny House close to nature and with a garden to grow most of the fruits and vegetables to feed myself. The goal is not necessarily autonomy, but at least to drastically reduce my carbon footprint in relation to my consumption and my lifestyle.","url":"https:\/\/paradigm21.ch\/en\/team\/marc-mathys\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paradigm21.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paradigm21.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paradigm21.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paradigm21.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paradigm21.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11740"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/paradigm21.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11801,"href":"https:\/\/paradigm21.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11740\/revisions\/11801"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paradigm21.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paradigm21.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paradigm21.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paradigm21.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}