Book Image

Enterprise Agility

By : Sunil Mundra
Book Image

Enterprise Agility

By: Sunil Mundra

Overview of this book

The biggest challenge enterprises face today is dealing with fast-paced change in all spheres of business. Enterprise Agility shows how an enterprise can address this challenge head on and thrive in the dynamic environment. Avoiding the mechanistic construction of existing enterprises that focus on predictability and certainty, Enterprise Agility delivers practical advice for responding and adapting to the scale and accelerating pace of disruptive change in the business environment. Agility is a fundamental shift in thinking about how enterprises work to effectively deal with disruptive changes in the business environment. The core belief underlying agility is that enterprises are open and living systems. These living systems, also known as complex adaptive systems (CAS), are ideally suited to deal with change very effectively. Agility is to enterprises what health is to humans. There are some foundational principles that can be broadly applied, but the definition of healthy is very specific to each individual. Enterprise Agility takes a similar approach with regard to agility: it suggests foundational practices to improve the overall health of the body—culture, mindset, and leadership—and the health of its various organs: people, process, governance, structure, technology, and customers. The book also suggests a practical framework to create a plan to enhance agility.
Table of Contents (23 chapters)
Enterprise Agility
About Packt
Forewords
Endorsements
Contributors
Preface
Other Books You May Enjoy
Index

Aligning the workplace to an agility-enabling culture


As discussed earlier, the physical workplace is one of the few variables which directly impacts the culture of an enterprise and is also a reflection of the culture of the company. People sitting behind closed doors and in cubicles, formally dressed and speaking in hushed voices, indicates a very different culture compared to groups of workers sitting in close proximity around large tables and where there is a constant din of voices.

Assuming that the firm is embracing values aligned with agility, it is critical that the workplace be aligned to support those values. Otherwise, the workplace can become a huge impediment in the values becoming a part of the culture, for example, managers and leaders sitting behind closed doors, with the cabin size directly correlated to seniority in the hierarchy is not a conducive work environment when the enterprise is trying to imbibe transparency, openness, and equality as values.

The following are some...