In their recent study, “The balancing act: Organizational agility in fast-growing international ventures,” our Agile Lab’s Head, Birgit Hagen, Pervez N. Ghauri, and Valentina Macovei investigated how fast-growing ventures use agility for continued growth.
Key insights:
1. Arrangement for Flexibility and Stability
- Rule: Balance flexibility with stability by embedding both into the organizational structure.
- How? Create adaptable frameworks and simple rules that guide while supporting rapid response to change.
2. Foster Cognitive Flexibility for Proactive Learning
- Rule: Encourage cognitive flexibility to spot and interpret new opportunities. This involves shifting perspectives from blending old and new knowledge and experience.
- How? Engage in continuous sensing and sense-making of change, questioning assumptions and learning from each change.
3. Leverage Relational and Structural Flexibility
- Rule: Build a network of “light-bound” relationships, enabling the organization to adjust partner and stakeholder connections as needed.
- How? Design internal structures to be lean and cross-functional. Use role flexibility, cross-training, and self-organizing teams. Identify the ‘right’ partners and harmonize and cultivate relationships.
4. Empower Teams through Political Flexibility
- Rule: Shift decision-making authority downwards, ensuring that decisions are based on merit rather than hierarchy.
- How? Support a culture of empowerment where resources are allocated based on skill and need, fostering responsiveness across all levels.
5. Develop Responsiveness with Selective Adaptation
- Rule: Respond selectively to changes, prioritizing “right timing” over instant reaction to all stimuli.
- How? Focus on evaluating alternatives, using tested heuristics or co-creation with customers and partners to guide decisions.
6. Create a Culture of Change and Selective Adaptation
- Rule: Embed learning, improvement, and change as core values within the organization’s culture.
- How? Communicate an identity of change while implementing a scalable strategy, based on a standardized core model with selective adaptations.
7. Balance Speed and Strategic Timing
- Rule: Differentiate between moments that require fast action and those that benefit from strategic patience.
- How? Use the “take time to understand, fast to act” approach, where learning and strategic evaluation precede rapid decision-making, execution, and adaptation. Ensure Continuity and Resilience through Efficient Scaling
8. Ensure Continuity and Resilience through Efficient Scaling
- Rule: Maintain continuity by scaling operations resource-efficiently, ensuring growth without disruption.
- How? Build scalable systems, processes, and training programs that allow for fast extension or replication in new segments or markets.
