# Governance

The system of decision rights, approvals, and gates that determines who may authorize, spend, or stop work.

Governance is the system of decision rights, approvals, and gates that governs execution: who may authorize an initiative, who controls its funding, and who has the authority to stop it. It defines the formal structure of accountability and control around a portfolio of work.

Governance is often confused with cadence, but the two are different things working together. Governance defines who decides and under what authority; cadence is the operating rhythm in which deciding actually happens. Strong governance with no cadence stalls; strong cadence with no governance makes motion without the authority to commit resources.

### Commonly confused

Cadence. Governance defines who decides; cadence is the rhythm in which deciding happens.

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