Weapons of Mass Agility: Weighing the Human Factor

by Vince Kellen

While much has been written about organizational learning and knowledge, it is still a mystery for many firms. The old school of planning and designing change is under attack. One could argue that planning, especially long-term planning, does not improve agility. For environments that are dynamic and complex, events can unfold in unpredictable ways, upsetting even the best plans. Planning cannot be split from doing. Bureaucratic or hierarchical structures may not facilitate the bottom-up learning needed to be agile.