2. Why agile?
2
A more turbulent world
Demands agility
from organisations
And leaders
www.huffingtonpost.com
www.business2community.com
www.npr.org
3. Is it really more turbulent?
we are in a “MUCH more turbulent world economically than we ever have
been... The NASDAQ – for instance - has had 30 days this year where it has
moved + or – 1%, an unheard of statistic 20 years ago. Grant Cleary,
Principal, Cleary Wealth Management ((note – the chart above, of “VIX” is an indicator of share
market volatility)
4. Is it really more turbulent?
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The number of attacks by non-state armed groups
around the world has rapidly increased in just five years, according to the IHS
Jane’s 2013 Global Terrorism & Insurgency Attack Index from IHS Inc.
finance.yahoo.com
5. Is it really more turbulent?
Figure 1 suggests apparent increasing trends in both the annual frequency of
billion-dollar events and in the annual aggregate loss from these events
- http://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/papers/smith-and-katz-2013.pdf
finance.yahoo.com
6. Is it really more turbulent?
Oxford researchers Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael A. Osborne looked into the tasks required in
over 700 jobs, particularly the extent those tasks could be computerised. They estimate
“about 47% of total US employment is at risk”.
http://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/downloads/academic/The_Future_of_Employment.pdf
finance.yahoo.com
7. Is it really more turbulent?
Age of anxiety?
Over the period 1945 to 2000 standard measures of
anxiety indicate US college age men’s anxiety
increased by 1.2 standard deviations, and
women’s by 2 standard deviations. This birth
cohort effect explains 18% - 21% of
personality variation - Jean Twenge (2000)
http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/psp7961007.pdf
finance.yahoo.com
8. If it is a “risk-on” world, what can
leaders do?
Suggested “Big 4” of Agile Leadership:
1. Influence opinionated people
2. Develop and cherish networks
3. Create space for innovation
4. “Grapple and grok”
(maintain mental flexibility)
www.traderrach.com
10. 2. Networks provide opportunities and
amplify weak signals
life.time.com
www.fmsasg.com
11. 3. Agile leaders create the team space
for innovation
life.time.com
Carson, Tesluk and Marrone (2007) – greater team “density” = more shared leadership, and more
opportunity for innovation; http://www.ilo.bwl.uni-muenchen.de/download/unterlagen-
ws12_13/leadership_and_learning/literature_hoegl1/carson_et_al_2007.pdf
“Attributing success or failure to specific individuals
operating in a complex environment is incomplete – because
no individual has the ability or time to comprehend the
complexity of future challenges... Instead, it will require a
group/team effort and cooperative leadership processes”;
Tago Mharapara, leadership researcher at University of
Auckland.
12. 4. Agile leaders need to be able to
“grapple and grok*”
life.time.com
Leaders must develop...“a process of sense-making that
enables them more quickly identify leverage for action”; *Duke
Corporate Education 2013 CEO Study -
http://www.dukece.com/elements/docs/LeadingInContext.pdf
talgroupinc.wordpress.com
13. Developing Agile Leaders
life.time.com
Some suggestions: de-layer, set up teams to
solve problems and encourage teams to emerge
to exploit opportunities, encourage rapid
experimentation and implementation while
discouraging (and working around) patch
protection, use coaches to provide ‘just in time’
support and development.
talgroupinc.wordpress.com
“I don’t have all the answers... between them the
leaders probably have most of them... success comes
from providing the environment for sharing that
knowledge and then working with the implications that
emerge”; Dr Pawel Grochowicz, Strategic Advisor
thechronicleherald.ca