Some of the leading edge thinking and research into organizational agility comes (not surprisingly) from the field of software development and the “Agile Software Development” set of methodologies, principles and tools.
You’ve probably seen this poem about four characters: Anybody, Somebody, Everybody & Nobody:
As the saying goes, “when you need a friend, it’s too late to make one”.
Make friends with organizational agility before it’s too late. When you find yourself in a situation in which you need agility as your friend, or a new level of agility than you have needed before, it’s too late, because:
In particular in these turbulent, uncertain times, when our approach to execution excellence isn’t clicking well, we experience Wheel$pin, which costs us a fortune in avoidable-costs and opportunity-costs:
Traditional “Strategic Planning & Implementation” tends to go something like this:
The head-gear worn by the king is the crown. Cash is King, still - it always had been and it always will be. Some things never change - in bad times, in good times and in great times, surviving and thriving is about not running out of cash! The crowning head-gear has changed though - what did the crown used to be in your industry? Maybe size; maybe reach; maybe deep pockets? Now it’s agility - organizational agility - for cash to be king, that’s what we have to wear as our crowning head-gear, which frames our mindset, our mental-model, the way we are wired.
The message is coming across loud and clear:
A recurring and rigorous strategy conversation is about having options. The further up and out we expand the envelope of our strategy conversation then the more options we have – 
“up” in terms of the altitude of our strategic thinking/ conversation and “out” in terms of the time-horizon of our strategic thinking/conversation (Execution Excellence - missing in action?).
Does your team have what it takes to be a tiger? I love the series of advertisements Accenture has progressively created with Tiger Woods, which speak directly to our work.
These days, we must be comfortable being uncomfortable, expecting the unexpected and being ready, willing and able to manage things as they unfold.
In their 2007 book, "Managing the Unexpected – Resilient Performance in an Age of Uncertainty", Karl Weick & Kathleen Sutcliffe put it this way:
Are you experiencing a constant white-water ride?
You seem to be in a constant state of buffeting by unexpected events, hanging on tight as best you can to just go with the flow and unsure what’s around the next corner. There never seems to be any quiet water, even just an eddy you can circle out into for some respite. Clearly, in acutely uncertain and turbulent times, we all experience white-water to some degree, when all we can do is hang on tight and go with the flow, putting an oar back in the water as and when we can. That’s one way to travel, but its stressful, frustrating and painful, not least of all finacially.
Execution Excellence: Missing-in-Action“We hear a lot about execution these days, which is encouraging. But strategy and execution are only as good as the traction they create and sustain, on a higher road of a breakthrough journey."
Mike's Own Journey“As an executive and then CEO of small-to-medium sized and fast-moving businesses, I experienced an ever increasing sense-of-void. As the pace of business and change accelerated, my experience of most coaches, consultants and trainers coming into my office offering to help was that they didn’t really understand the nature of the seat I sat in everyday..." read more...
See Mike giving one of his keynote speeches, Breaking Through to a New Future .