Terminological debasement of governance

Two excellent publications recently commented on what I call terminological debasement of the term "governance".

Mark Toomey, an Aussie heavily involved with the ISO38500 standard (and its Australian ancestor), produces an excellent newsletter that I commend to you. In the latest one he talks of the distinction between management and governence.

Pauil Williams, ISACA International Past President, has an excellent blog. Recently he talks of another debasement:

One subject which came up for regular debate was the use, and the meaning, of the frequently used acronym GRC (governance ,risk, and compliance)... Gartner itself seems to be moving away from the acronym with some of their analysts supporting my view that the term has been hijacked by certain elements of the software vendor market to pigeonhole certain of their products. Hence, arguably, the term has not only become confused but also cheapened as a result.

A familiar theme. It is so often the vendors with their approach of "When all you have is a hammer, call it a drill" that destroy the useful meaning of terminology.

Syndicate content