An Agile Enterprise

What is an Agile enterprise?  How would you recognise one, if you walked in through it's front door?

When we at Cornwell discuss the agile enterprise, we all have an instinctive feel for the Agile enterprise.  The Agile enterprise should respond quickly to changes in it's circumstances, from whatever direction, whether from customers, legislators, suppliers, partners.  It should always be moving forward, at every level.  Every operation, every process, every service, every employee, should all be focussed on value for the customer.  But what enables some enterprises to be agile, and survive and thrive, while others struggle and fail?

Is it about having the right processes?  Is it being able to change processes quickly?  Is it recruiting the right people?  Is it the training you give the people?  Is it devolving responsibility?  Is it setting the right direction? Is it corporate values?  Is it having contingency plans?

Are humans not inherently agile - is agility not a summation of what raised us above the other species, our ability to adapt, to innovate?  Looking at the Winter Olympics, maybe its like skiing?  In skiing, the quickest route down the mountain is straight down the fall line; taking turns just slows you down, the fastest skiers do less but take the right line. The more you try to do, the slower you go, which for some skiers of a certain age and ability is comforting.  So, is it the case that the more we manage people, the more we stop them being agile, and the worse they, and our enterprises, perform?  "Just let me get on with my job!"

But large enterprises, such as governments and multinationals, don't run themselves - they need organising, they need to comply with the law and regulation. Any change, whether setting up the enterprise, or setting up a new team, needs management to lead, to give direction, to drive the change through.  Even in a steady state, take away management and organisation, and chaos erupts, sooner or later.  Today, enterprises are in a contant state of change.  Managers are having to manage multiple, diverse intiatives.  There isn't the managerial time, or resource, for micro management. Light touch is a necessity, the current reality.  Successful enterprises have to empower, delegate,

Going back to the questions I asked at the top of the blog, I suspect the answer is "all of the above".  I can't find a lot of robust scientific analysis of agility in the corporate domain - help, please?  For our enterprises to perform well, our people need to perform well.  People, individually and collectively, perform best when faced with a clearly defined challenge, with the resources and tools necessary to rise to the challenge.
So is our challenge in making our enterprises Agile the challenge of giving our people Agile challenges, and giving them Agile resources?