Corporate governance is, all too often, handed down from generation to generation. Like a well-worn jacket, it works great—until it doesn’t. Typically, it is a crisis that forces companies to reassess their corporate governance framework, as gaps are filled and poor policies rewritten. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Aaron Nicodemus is the Editor-in-Chief of Compliance Week. He previously worked as a reporter for Bloomberg Law and as business editor at the Telegram & Gazette in Worcester, Mass. Email: aaron.nicodemus@complianceweek.com LinkedIn:...