Why do so many governing bodies allow their organisations to embark on high risk projects without insisting on a robust, independent assurance function?

There is nothing wrong with embarking on a high-risk, high-reward project that has the potential to transform an organisation. In fact they are almost mandatory if an organisation is going to leap-frog its competitors and gain a strategic advantage. But going into this type of project with blinkers on is a great way to waste $millions.  The three elements needed to manage the risks and maximise the rewards are:

There is a debate in the Agile community regarding the role of the project manager and the scrum master.  These discussions remind me of a song from the musical, Oklahoma.  Rather than drawing on the commonalities and shared mission of the roles, the focus seems to be on what separates them.

The farmer and the cowman should be friends,  Territory folks should all be pals. Rogers & Hart