The evolution of the agile organisation
Organisational agility enables organisations to act fast, improve the experience of their customers and their people, and deliver market-beating results.
Our research has proven this. When we surveyed 500 leaders from some of the world's largest organisations, we found that the top financial performers are 30 per cent more likely to display agile characteristics.
Our survey of 500 leaders across a range of industries found that the top organisations by financial performance are more likely to have embedded five dimensions of organisational agility.
This was true across industries. So, no matter your organisation’s size or type, our research uncovers the actions you can take to set your organisation on the path to sustained success.
Having worked at the frontline of the world’s biggest agile transformations, we know there are steps leaders can take today to begin embedding the five dimensions of organisational agility.
Top performing companies are 22% more customer-centric
Centring on customers is critical to delivering revenue-driving products and services at pace. That means listening to feedback, bringing customers into the innovation process and using data to evolve in line with customer needs.
Top performing companies are 43% better at speeding up time to value
Finding ingenious ways to create new value or innovate at pace will keep you one step ahead of your competitors. That means mobilising quickly in response to disruption, rolling out improvements more frequently, and investing in moving from idea to launch at pace.
Top performing companies are 35% better at designing for simplicity
Simple organisational structures enable faster action. That means building teams around products and services rather than skills, decentralising decision-making and removing layers of hierarchy.
Top performing companies are 17% better at building to evolve
The ability to evolve continuously must be at the core of your organisation. That means creating a culture that accepts change at any point in development, building flexible systems and processes, and nurturing people’s natural adaptability.
Top performing companies are 27% better at liberating their people
Having a people-centred organisation will unlock more valuable ideas. That means building a dynamic culture, empowering all people to contribute ideas and embedding infrastructure that encourages collaboration.
While the case for agility is clear, the challenge for leaders is to turn theory into practice. But organisational agility is hard. It confronts teams and leaders with totally new ways of working. And it demands the ripping up of much of what is taken for granted today.
Too often, organisational agility becomes diluted, fails to scale, or sees reversion to old habits.
Based on our experiences working on the world's largest agile transformations, our new report challenges the common misconceptions and mistakes we encounter – and demonstrates the secrets to success.
Embedding and scaling agility goes beyond individual ‘Agile’ programmes. It’s a culture and a mindset that can help you deliver better all-round performance.