Our research

Providing clarity on the complexity of governance.

CoSteer's runs a global research programme, in partnership with the Good Governance Academy, under the patronage of Sir Mervyn King, investigating governance and its relationship with culture. This programme has produced many publications and insights in both the academic and consultancy spaces. Below, you will find a selection.

We are proud and grateful to share our research and insight with this community and the wider world.

If you are undertaking or wish to undertake research in the area of governance and culture, we can help.

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Global Leadership Summit for Sustainable Transitions: Reinventing Governance - Energy and Climate

Presented | 2025

Despite the growing layers of legislation, regulation, and governance codes, corporate failures persist - revealing a core misunderstanding of what truly drives organizational behavior. Traditional governance has been shaped by the human desire to “control and predict,” leading to compliance-heavy models that focus on documenting adherence rather than improving the act of governing itself. This creates a “compliance trap” where organisations obsess over frameworks and reporting instead of examining how people actually make decisions. The missing element in this model is the recognition that organisations are human systems driven by culture. To govern effectively, leaders must focus not just on compliance, but on cultivating compassion—defined as “empathy with action.” Compassionate leadership, built on self-awareness and small, intentional daily behaviours, creates ripple effects that strengthen trust, resilience, and performance across the organisation.

Traditional change management, rooted in linear thinking and predictability, has a dismal 20% success rate because it fails to account for the complex, interconnected nature of organisations. A systems-thinking approach replaces this outdated model by acknowledging that outcomes in complex systems cannot be controlled, only influenced. By identifying small, high-leverage interventions—or “nudges”—leaders can produce large, system-wide impacts with minimal investment. Case studies show that such targeted, culture-led interventions have transformed organisations from disjointed chaos to aligned high performance, improving engagement, inclusion, and trust while reducing turnover. Crucially, these successes demonstrate that meaningful transformation doesn’t require massive budgets—only a shift in mindset. When leaders treat governance as a living, dynamic system and culture as a measurable driver of decision-making, they can achieve sustainable, financially verifiable transformation that reconnects people, purpose, and performance.

A 5-minute AI-Summary of Global Leadership Summit for Sustainable Transitions: Reinventing Governance - Energy and Climate

Presented | 2025

Despite the growing layers of legislation, regulation, and governance codes, corporate failures persist, revealing a core misunderstanding of what truly drives organisational behaviour. Traditional governance has been shaped by the human desire to “control and predict,” leading to compliance-heavy models that focus on documenting adherence rather than improving the act of governing itself. This creates a “compliance trap” where organizations obsess over frameworks and reporting instead of examining how people actually make decisions. The missing element in this model is the recognition that organisations are human systems driven by culture. To govern effectively, leaders must focus not just on compliance, but on cultivating compassion—defined as “empathy with action.” Compassionate leadership, built on self-awareness and small, intentional daily behaviours, creates ripple effects that strengthen trust, resilience, and performance across the organisation.

Traditional change management, rooted in linear thinking and predictability, has a dismal 20% success rate because it fails to account for the complex and interconnected nature of organisations. A systems-thinking approach replaces this outdated model by acknowledging that outcomes in complex systems cannot be controlled, only influenced. By identifying small, high-leverage interventions—or “nudges”—leaders can produce large, system-wide impacts with minimal investment. Case studies show that such targeted, culture-led interventions have transformed organisations from disjointed chaos to aligned high performance, improving engagement, inclusion, and trust while reducing turnover. Crucially, these successes demonstrate that meaningful transformation doesn’t require massive budgets—only a shift in mindset. When leaders treat governance as a living, dynamic system and culture as a measurable driver of decision-making, they can achieve sustainable, financially verifiable transformation that reconnects people, purpose, and performance.

Our published and peer-reviewed research on the complexity of governance and its relationships with organisational culture.

We have published our first paper and this is part of a series documenting our research over the last 5-years.

The Complexity of Governance: Towards a Pragmatic Systems Model

Paper 1 - Status | In Press

The Complexity of Governance: Validating a Pragmatic Systems Model

Paper 2 - Status | In Review

The Complexity of Governance: Emergence of patterns of relationships

Paper 3 - Status | In draft

Our presentations and podcasts discussing our research into the complexity of governance and its relationships with organisational culture.

Our insights and report on the complexity of governance and its relationships with organisational culture.

Reflecting on our research, we've published a series of insight-shorts to help organisational leaders and governance professionals focus on the pragmatic outcomes and deliver on their own strategic projects.

Governance Nature

Insight I

Purple and Orange Bold Nonprofit Impact Report.png

Governance Performance

Insight II

Factors of Influence

Insight III

Factors of Influence

Insight IV

Factors of Influence

Insight V

Factors of Influence

Insight VI

We've published a thorough review of primary data collected over the last 3-years in a detailed report observing governance and its connections with both culture and performance.

This analysis has focused on governance and culture across the Channel Islands, UK and we are now beginning work across other jurisdictions.

Our analysis has shown there are key elements that organisations do every day that can have critical impacts on governance, its relationship with culture and the overall performance of the organisation.

These key elements are aligning both decision-making and the implementation of decisions with both purpose and values, ensuring that the transition of converting data into meaningful information to support decision-making and ensuring that leaders are equipped to lead with empathy and curiosity.

Across these key elements, we have begun to see an emerging trend of activities within those organisations with good governance and high-performing cultures. There are powerful development opportunities for all organisations emerging from our research.

WHAT CLIENTS SAY

“CoSteer’s research investigating the complex and interconnected relationships between governance and organisational culture, as part of the Good Governance Academy, Research Forum, is enhancing global understandings of what drives good governance.

CoSteer has been presenting their findings and outcomes since 2022 and attracts wide international audiences due to the nature, content and challenge that they pose to the field of governance.

Using complexity science as the foundation of their methodology has led to some unique insights and as their data grows, we expect to see further contributions to global understandings of governance.”

Carolynn Chalmers, CEO | Good Governance Academy

We undertake research for our clients, regulators and other bodies. If you're considering a research project, please do get in touch.

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Our research

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