The Governance Notes Archive

Seventeen editions, in reading order

Governance Notes by Paul Halpin (formerly Governance Decoded) is free writing for directors, chairs and the people who prepare their papers. This is every edition so far, in the order it was written. Start at the first and read forward, or go straight to the one that speaks to a problem on your desk this week.

Each edition that has a toolkit built from it points to it at the foot of the page. The writing is free, always. The toolkits are there for the weeks you need to act.

Download the whole archive as a PDF

Edition 1

The Invisible Architecture of Board Decisions

The delegation framework sorts decisions by how much money is involved, and says nothing about who should have been asked first.
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Edition 2

The Board's Blind Spot

Every board evaluates its CEO. Ask what the equivalent discipline is for the board itself, and most rooms go quiet.
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Edition 3

The Director Who Won't Leave

The director whose departure would change nothing, and the tenure no one will name.
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Edition 4

Your First Year as a Board Director Is Four Meetings

A new director's first year is really four meetings. What you ask for before the first one decides the other three.
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Edition 5

The Long Game

Contribution that lasts past the induction glow: the horizon a first-year director has to play for.
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Edition 6

The Year In Between Meetings

The substance of governance is built in the eleven weeks between meetings, not the two hours inside them.
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The AI Governance Series

Six editions, read as one arc

From literacy to competence, to where AI governance sits, to the crisis plan built for the wrong threat, and the board that governs AI as a strategic resource. Parts 1 to 6.

Edition 7 AI Series · Part 1/6

You're Overseeing AI. Do You Actually Know What You're Overseeing?

Slide eleven covers AI. The board nods. Nothing is actually overseen. The gap between literacy and competence.
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Edition 8 AI Series · Part 2/6

AI Governance: The Questions You're Not Asking

“We have a responsible AI framework in place.” Five domains of questions that make that answer mean something.
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Edition 9 AI Series · Part 3/6

AI Governance: The Third Party Nobody Voted On

“AI now handles 40% of our volume, with a great partner.” The dependency nobody voted on.
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Edition 10 AI Series · Part 4/6

AI Governance: Where Does This Sit?

When every committee could own AI governance, the practical answer is often that none of them does.
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Edition 11 AI Series · Part 5/6

AI Governance: Your Crisis Plan Was Built for an Attacker

The complaint arrives eleven months on. Your crisis plan assumes an attacker. This failure had none.
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Edition 12 AI Series · Part 6/6

AI Governance: The Strategic Resource You Need a Return On

Govern AI as a strategic resource you need a return on, not a tool you check for faults.
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Edition 13

The Seat Your Board Forgets It Has

The senior independent director the board forgets it has, until the three seconds when it needs the seat.
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Edition 14

Eight Minutes and a Nod

A strategic item gets eight minutes and a nod. Everyone agrees it mattered. No one governed it.
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Edition 15

The Smoothest Item on the Agenda Is the One to Watch

The smoothest item on the agenda is the one to watch: the question the framing was built to retire.
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Edition 16

The Banks' Yes

The banks have said yes. The business case is two years old. What is the shelf-life of an approval?
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Edition 17

The Pack and the Pull

The pack is what management sends. The pull is what the board deliberately goes and gets.
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Seventeen editions, in reading order

The Invisible Architecture of Board Decisions

The Board's Blind Spot

The Director Who Won't Leave

Your First Year as a Board Director Is Four Meetings

The Long Game

The Year In Between Meetings

Six editions, read as one arc

You're Overseeing AI. Do You Actually Know What You're Overseeing?

AI Governance: The Questions You're Not Asking

AI Governance: The Third Party Nobody Voted On

AI Governance: Where Does This Sit?

AI Governance: Your Crisis Plan Was Built for an Attacker

AI Governance: The Strategic Resource You Need a Return On

The Seat Your Board Forgets It Has

Eight Minutes and a Nod

The Smoothest Item on the Agenda Is the One to Watch

The Banks' Yes

The Pack and the Pull