THE MOST AGILE DAY

What the Allied invasion of Normandy has to teach us about the power and utility of organizational agility.

- LEO M. TILMAN AND GENERAL CHARLES JACOBY

Every organization today may find itself heading toward an abrupt environmental shift that poses an existential threat, a transformational opportunity, or both. The disruption already happening across all domains is staggering, and it’s picking up speed. But leaders confronting such changes start at a disadvantage. Evolution has endowed humans with traits that don’t mix well with complexity and uncertainty, as such environments tend to make people risk-averse, either impulsive or reluctant to act, and focused on fending off dangers. To thrive in the years ahead, all organizations, both public and private, will need to make a concerted investment in the knowledge, capabilities, processes, and cultures that foster a distinctive and all-too-rare organizational quality: agility.

The term agility is used in a range of contexts. Freestyle rappers refer to mental agility, as do chess players and psychologists. Business executives pursue agile marketing and supply chain strategies. We define agility as “the organizational capacity to effectively detect, assess, and respond to environmental changes in ways that are purposeful, decisive, and grounded in the will to win.” Agile organizations possess both strategic and tactical strengths. Strategic agility enables entire organizations to move with the speed of relevance: to detect and assess major trends and environmental changes and dynamically adapt their strategic visions, business models, human capital, and campaign plans. Tactical agility allows employees to move with the speed of the challenge: to take smart risks.