Article
Growing stewardship through adaptive data governance
July 29, 2025 · Authored by Nathan Olson
Growing stewardship through adaptive data governance
For many organizations, data governance evokes a familiar image: rigid policies, centralized control and compliance-heavy processes that are hard to implement and even harder to maintain. Traditional approaches often collapse under their own weight — too prescriptive to be useful, too inflexible to keep pace with business needs.
But governance doesn’t have to be a bureaucratic burden. Like a well-tended garden, adaptive governance can be dynamic, responsive and tailored to its environment. When nurtured with care and intention, it can enable collaboration, foster stewardship and grow trust across the organization.
The problem with traditional governance
At its worst, data governance becomes a blocker rather than an enabler. Well-meaning frameworks are either over-applied to every corner of the business or bypassed entirely when they don’t fit the needs. Teams work around governance when it’s perceived as overhead — something to “get through” rather than something that helps them do better work.
This disconnect creates a critical opportunity: to reimagine governance not as a one-size-fits-all program, but as something that grows and evolves with the needs of the organization.
What is cultivated data governance?
Cultivated data governance is a living model — adaptive, incremental and grounded in the context of your business. It starts small and grows deliberately, focusing on impact over enforcement. Instead of imposing controls from the top down, cultivated governance focuses on enabling teams with the right level of support, clarity and care.
It’s a model that prizes flexibility and sustainability over rigid adherence. It invites stewards, not enforcers, and it meets data users where they are, aligning with how they work today and where they’re headed next.