What are the governance maturity levels?

The labels in plain words

Undefined means nothing shows a commitment to the principle. Limited means a commitment exists but the board cannot explain why it matters. Emerging means it is adopted but applied inconsistently. Formalized means it is adopted and explained but not assessed. Measured means it is measured, resourced, reviewed and corrected. Optimizing means the group changes its practice because of what it measured.

Where groups usually sit

Most first evaluations land between limited and formalized. That is not a failure: the model is cumulative, so the useful question is which specific feature is missing, not how to jump two levels.

How the levels combine

Each aspect gets a level, and the dimension level reflects the dominant level with outliers considered. The aggregation rule uses the arithmetic mean rounded down, and the reasons for outliers are recorded rather than averaged away.

How to use the levels without overstating

The most common error is to rate the board on the documents it holds. A policy library can look like level three while the behaviour sits at level one. Rate from the record of what happened in the period, confirm behaviour with the people concerned, and keep the three aspect ratings visible beside the combined level.