The definition we use as a bench mark has been formulated by Dr Stephen Cornell, a co-director of the Harvard project on American Indian Economic Development.
 Reconciliation Australia also uses this definition. Visit their website to see their excellent governance competition: - http://www.reconciliation.org.au/i-cms.isp?page=148
“Governance has to do with how people organise themselves to get things done. The heart of governance is the rules a community or business puts in place to meet its overall objectives: how authority and responsibility are distributed, how disputes are resolved, what our obligations are to each other and how we work together.
Sometimes those rules are made by outsiders – that’s what happens in colonial situations. Sometimes societies make the rules them for themselves. Sometimes they write them down in constitutions. Sometimes they exist in oral traditions and in teachings passed from generation to generation. But all societies have rules that govern how they act.
Effective governance means having rules that are capable of achieving your objectives.”
Governance grows from core values
 Governance is about meeting a range of expectations of what it means to be accountable. Most organisations have to be accountable to a wide range of stakeholders from their members, to staff and to financers.
Different types of organisations are going to have different values and different expectations which will give rise to different governance frameworks. For example a police force will have different governance structures to an organisation in the not for profit sector.
Equitability, fairness, transparency and accountability grow out of an organisation’s core values. Rules and processes make it more explicit about how these qualities are played out in the day to day operation of the organisation.
People need to ‘buy into’ governance
In-depth knowledge, on its own, does not necessarily result in appropriate accountability or strong actions. There is a world of difference between learning rules and regulations and genuine buy in - expressed as proactive support for the organisation’s governance structures.
 Little Fish works with organisations to bring about a better understanding of their existing rules and regulations. However, we have come to understand that the main thing that gets results is to help everyone in the organisation understand how governance relates to the group’s core values and how it connects to achieving their objectives.
The main areas we place emphasis on are: -
- building an understanding of what governance is and where it fits in the whole organisation
- helping boards, staff and members revisit core values and making them more explicit
- making it clearer how these core values give rise to guiding principles and governance structures
- how sound governance processes contribute to achieving objectives
- helping boards to be in a better position to identify and respond to issues like conflict of interest, clarifying roles and responsibilities and the separation of powers
- supporting boards to identify and work through ‘real life’ challenges as they emerge – particularly in cross cultural situations
- Enabling boards and staff to communicate the organisation’s governance structures to the general membership/community in a meaningful way
- Providing tools which facilitate clear information flow and transparency that lead to genuine accountability
In short, governance is at its most powerful when everyone in an organisation understands its importance and buys into its relevance.
Good governance requires ongoing maintenance
 We live in a world that is always changing and regenerating. Every organisation needs to keep on reconfirming its governance structures in the light of its core goals and values no matter how long it has been in existence.
Governance is like a fence that keeps you focused and accountable to achieving your vision. Governance is not static. Just like a fence it needs constant checking and maintaining. Organisations that aren’t constantly ‘repairing’ themselves tend to ‘age’ and degenerate from within.
We enjoy working with organisations which want to grow and evolve.
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