Susan Mogensen 
June 19, 2026Many organizations struggle because boards and management become involved in the same decisions. This confusion often leads to micromanagement, weak accountability, unclear authority, and frustration on both sides of the governance-management relationship.
In this short video, Susan Mogensen explains why governance and management are fundamentally different disciplines, why management experience alone does not prepare someone for effective board service, and how Policy Governance helps boards and CEOs avoid the challenge of trying to sort out tangled “decision noodles.”
Video: The Decision Noodle Problem
View Transcript: Governance vs Management and Board Member Training
Here’s a bold statement: management training and experience does not make you a better board member. It probably makes you a worse one.
Why?
Because the governance role is completely different from management roles.
It’s like saying that being a great hockey player makes you a great basketball player. No it doesn’t. They’re completely different games.
Yet in traditional governance consulting, governance and management are routinely conflated.
To illustrate, imagine a plate of spaghetti, with each noodle representing a decision. Some belong to the board. Some belong to management.
How do you tell which is which?
What happens when the board starts pulling on a noodle that management is already responsible for?
How much time gets wasted trying to untangle who owns what?
When using Policy Governance principles, board and management each get their own plate.
The board focuses on governance. Management focuses on management.
No tangled noodles. No confusion about who owns which decisions.
Once you recognize that governance and management are different disciplines, the need for governance training becomes obvious.
This is Susan Mogensen, with Brown Dog Consulting.
Susan Mogensen is a Policy Governance expert with over 25 years of experience as a trainer, author, coach, facilitator, and presenter. Serving as the CEO of the International Policy Governance Association (IPGA) from 2004-2009, she also gained direct experience as a Policy Governance practitioner.
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