Governance theatre: Buying confidence, not control
This is the third instalment of a series by Simon Wiggs, Solutions Director at Definia — your complete guide to replacing a core business system.
Don’t miss the first instalment, which covers the key considerations before starting a system transformation project, and the second part, which outlines five steps to choosing the right ERP that delivers ROI.
Recently, I met an organisation that signed a contract for a new ERP system before seeing a demonstration. Their reasoning? It reflected how they want to be perceived by their customers and how they perceive themselves as a business.
Another organisation I spoke to opted for a reputable, global brand largely to appease their audit committee. Both decisions felt safe in the room.
One system has since unravelled, and the organisation is now back to square one. The second organisation is considering taking legal action against their supplier.
Governance theatre: When ‘doing the right things’ doesn’t deliver the right results
Big system programmes, such as ERP, finance platforms, CRM and HRIS, are some of the biggest bets a leadership team can make. They shape resilience, controls, data integrity and future growth. They are also some of the riskiest decisions a Board will ever approve.
Despite real effort from capable teams, results still disappoint far too often. It’s not because people don’t care or because governance is absent — it’s because organisations often concentrate on the wrong risks: buying confidence instead of control.
The real failure point: Deciding too early
Many programmes fail right at the beginning, at the approval stage. Boards approve transformation before there is enough evidence that the plan is deliverable. True control gets substituted for confidence.
Authentic validation isn’t a flashy demo, it’s being able to see:
- How the system works with your operating model and processes
- Real user journeys, including adoption and workarounds
- The true state of data: ownership, quality, readiness to migrate
- Integration complexity and dependencies
- Delivery assumptions vs actual resource availability and timelines
If you don’t test these properly before contract, you’re not governing risk — you’re postponing it.
Why the rush to commit?
Many factors can result in rushed decisions, such as budget cycles, procurement deadlines and internal pressure. Plus, there are often those who just want to ‘get on with it and figure out the finer details during implementation’.
That sentiment should terrify any leadership team, because what happens next is predictable:
- The programme bends around the software, not vice versa
- Gaps surface late, when fixes are expensive
- Timeframes slip and confidence drops
- The Board asks, “Why didn’t we anticipate this?”
The real answer is uncomfortable: No one was empowered or incentivised to say, “Stop! Prove it.”
The governance theatre trap: Buying comfort, not capability
A big-name partner or system integrator sounds safe in the Boardroom, but their logo will not deliver your programme. A shiny, well-known brand won’t fix:
- Woolly business ownership and unclear decision rights
- Lack of capacity for data work
- Too few people to run User Acceptance Testing (UAT) properly
- Change and adoption being deferred
- Assumptions quietly turning into “facts”
Feeling reassured in a meeting is very different to being in control when delivery gets hard.
Myth: Failure is the fault of the vendor
In many failed programmes, vendors do exactly what their contract says. The breakdown typically happens because the organisation doesn’t deliver its side of the bargain:
- Data ownership, clean-up and migration readiness
- Enough people and discipline for UAT
- Training and adoption leadership
- Authority over process design and decision-making
When cracks appear, everybody runs for cover. The vendor becomes the scapegoat, but it is rarely just the vendor.
Functional fit: The most expensive assumption in transformation
Sales cycles showcase strengths. Constraints appear later. It’s normal for every system to have gaps, but the failure is not having visibility of those gaps before you sign a contract.
If you don’t validate functional fit properly, you usually end up in one of two places:
1. Surprise: Gaps emerge mid-delivery, scope creeps, costs rise and trust erodes
2. Paralysis: The organisation aims for the perfect fit, and nothing moves
The pragmatic truth is that 80-85% functional fit is typically acceptable — as long as the remaining 15-20% is known, understood and deliberately planned for. The risk isn’t the gap; it’s discovering it only after you’ve committed to a new system.
Phase 0: The part nobody funds, then everybody regrets
Phase 0 isn’t bureaucracy — it’s the part where you prove whether the programme can realistically work. Phase 0 is where you pressure-test the fundamentals:
- Is the operating model ready?
- Do the architecture and integration assumptions hold?
- Who owns the data, and can it be cleaned and migrated?
- What does good testing look like, and do we have the right people?
- Do governance and decision cadences enable delivery?
- What’s the plan for change, communications, training and adoption in reality?
Without Phase 0 you’re not running a programme — you’re running on hope and assumptions.
Independent challenge: The missing piece in high-stakes system transformation programmes
In major transformation, you need someone in the room who:
- Isn’t selling software
- Isn’t selling implementation
- Isn’t trapped in internal politics
- Doesn’t benefit from ‘keeping things moving’ at all costs
Independent challenge is not theatre — it’s how you make risks visible early on. It is hugely valuable because it:
- Forces assumptions into the light before they become facts
- Creates clarity on business-owned workstreams
- Strengthens Phase 0 planning
- Helps Boards approve with real evidence, not comfort
- Speeds up decisions because uncertainty is reduced
That’s the difference between feeling confident and being in control. In transformation, control compounds. Everything else is theatre.
Partner with Definia
Ready to turn your system replacement into strategic transformation? Get in touch with us to discuss how we can help you navigate the journey from vision to lasting results.
