2021/11/22

by Sebastian Marshall

Agile Organisation? Think once more…

VUCA and Agility, you might think after all the hype of contempo years that everything has already been said on these topics. Even so, from a General Direction perspective, I call back in that location is notwithstanding a demand for well-founded clarification. I´d like to argue two points; the first is to make a clear stardom which seems to be defective in many discussions about Agility and the second is to accept some lessons learned from an organization that has been practising Agility for more than 200 years, the Burn Service. This 2nd part will be published next calendar week in our MESG Perspectives.

The distinction which I think would be helpful to brand in this first office is betwixt "Active Methods and Tools" and "Agile Organization". The lack of standard definitions and articulate thinking nigh the relationship of these two topics has led to many misunderstandings in conversations and projects in which I accept been involved. I ofttimes hear managers saying "we need to become more Agile" simply what they mean past this can vary enormously. That is why I would like to endeavour to define these two concepts more conspicuously. Neither is easy because they as well have broad meanings but hither is my shot at it:

Active Methods and Tools – a project working style characterized past:

  • dedicated multi-functional team set up-up
  • high caste of team autonomy and self-organization
  • brusque, iterative customer-axial development cycles or "sprints"
  • mindset and focus on fast learning and prototyping

Agile Organization:

  • An organization´s power to make a timely response to changes in its (VUCA) surroundings

Here is why I think it is important and helpful to differentiate these two.

Having a large number of projects and teams working in Agile fashion may assistance united states to respond to customer needs more quickly and it may help the states to develop ameliorate, more customer-oriented products, just with its narrow, project related focus, information technology is less likely to aid us to be aware of and respond to greater changes in the surroundings such every bit geo-political changes, new market regulations, or the disruptive innovation of our competitors. Companies demand to organize this in a unlike more than coordinated fashion. So here is the first important point: Agile Methods and Tools are neither sufficient nor (as we shall come across next week) necessary for what I accept defined above equally an Active Organization.

Of the two concepts, Agile Organization should be given higher priority by top management teams considering the ability to make a timely response to changes in the (VUCA) environment clearly has a major impact on an system´s ability to survive and thrive. Having Viability or Successful Longevity would in my view be an even better goal for top-direction focus notwithstanding than Agility. Organizational Agility is ane factor that contributes to Viability, it is necessary but not sufficient for Viability; innovation forcefulness, market place position, awareness of the environment, anticipation, preparedness and other factors such equally financial stability and resources are likewise important elements of Viability. So, if y'all really want to manage a company to not merely "do concern" but as well "stay in business" in the long-run, Viability is much more comprehensive concept to employ than Agility and more probable to lead to success.

Although managers oasis´t been using the words Organizational Agility for long, the understanding that organizations need to answer apace to changes in their environments has been around for hundreds of years as a await at armed services strategy volition quickly testify. The battle strategy of the British Navy nether Lord Nelson is a peculiarly good example. Recently I also became enlightened of another instance of an organization that is designed for loftier agility and got interested in what could exist learned from how they are fix upwards – the Fire Service. In adjacent calendar week´s article we´ll explore in more depth what makes the Fire Service so agile and how we might apply some of the same principles to increase the agility of our businesses.