On paper, decision-making looks neat and orderly.
Organisational charts show who reports to whom. Job titles suggest authority. Policies outline responsibilities.
Yet in reality, many of the most important decisions are made far away from formal titles.
Understanding where decisions really happen — and why — is one of the most critical governance challenges organisations face today.
🔍 Authority, Influence, and Responsibility Are Not the Same Thing
One of the biggest misconceptions in governance is assuming that authority equals power.
In practice, decision-making is shaped by three distinct forces:
🏷️ Authority
Authority comes from formal roles, mandates, and titles. It defines who can make decisions according to policy or law.
🧠 Influence
Influence comes from expertise, relationships, access to information, or trust. Influential individuals often shape outcomes without signing anything.
⚖️ Responsibility
Responsibility refers to who is held accountable when something goes wrong — which is not always the same person who influenced the decision.
Governance problems arise when these three elements drift apart.
👥 Why Decisions Often Happen Outside Formal Roles
In many organisations, real decisions are made:
- In informal conversations
- By long-tenured employees with deep institutional knowledge
- By technical experts who “know the system”
- By external advisors or consultants
- By individuals with access to key data or stakeholders
This phenomenon is widely studied in organisational theory. Research and guidance from institutions like the Institute of Directors acknowledge that governance effectiveness depends not only on formal structures, but on understanding how influence actually operates inside organisations.
Titles describe structure — they don’t describe behaviour.
🧠 Shadow Decision-Makers: Invisible but Powerful
“Shadow decision-makers” are individuals who:
- Rarely appear in official documentation
- Are not formally accountable
- Shape decisions through advice, framing, or timing
They may be:
- Senior specialists
- Trusted confidants of leadership
- Operational gatekeepers
- Long-standing employees
Insights from MIT Sloan highlight how informal power networks often outperform formal hierarchies when it comes to speed and problem-solving — but they also introduce governance risk when left unchecked.
⚠️ The Accountability Gap
When influence and responsibility don’t align, accountability gaps emerge.
Common governance failures include:
- Decisions influenced by one party, approved by another
- Responsibility assigned to those with limited control
- No clear record of who shaped the outcome
- Blame shifting after problems arise
This is why governance failures often feel confusing in hindsight. Everyone was involved — yet no one was clearly responsible.
As explored by Harvard Business Review, organisations that fail to distinguish influence from authority often struggle with transparency and trust.
🧩 Why Governance Must Make Power Visible
Good governance doesn’t try to eliminate informal influence — that’s unrealistic.
Instead, it seeks to:
- Identify where influence exists
- Acknowledge who contributes to decisions
- Document decision pathways
- Align responsibility with real influence
When power is invisible, risk grows.
When power is visible, accountability becomes possible.
📘 How Governancepedia Clarifies Where Power Really Sits
Governancepedia exists to make these hidden dynamics understandable.
Rather than focusing only on legal definitions and formal roles, Governancepedia:
- Explains how decisions actually happen in real organisations
- Breaks down the difference between authority, influence, and responsibility
- Educates readers on recognising informal power structures
- Helps organisations identify accountability gaps before they cause harm
By translating complex governance concepts into accessible language, Governancepedia empowers leaders, professionals, and individuals to see governance as it truly operates, not just as it is documented.
🔎 Making Responsibility Visible Changes Outcomes
When organisations understand who truly influences decisions:
- Risk ownership becomes clearer
- Decision-making improves
- Trust increases
- Governance failures become easier to prevent
Visibility doesn’t weaken leadership — it strengthens it.
🏁 Titles Describe Structure, Not Reality
Job titles are important — but they tell only part of the story.
Real governance begins when organisations ask:
- Who shapes decisions?
- Who influences outcomes?
- Who is accountable when things go wrong?
Governancepedia helps answer those questions.
Because governance isn’t just about who signs the document —
it’s about who actually decides.