Agile Thermodynamics: Strategy for Action and Reaction

by Jim Highsmith

In a previous Advisor on leading organizations (see "Making Middle Managers Catalysts for Agility," 25 November 2009), I identified a number of practices or areas of responsibility for agile leaders. These were aligning agile transformation efforts to business strategy; helping teams understand and deliver on business and project objectives; creating an agile performance management system; facilitating a decentralized, empowered, collaborative workplace; fostering an adaptable product line and product architecture; creating an agile proficiency framework; fostering both proactive and reactive organizational adaptation processes; and creating guidelines, training; and support for agile processes, practices, and tools. I'll address proactive and reactive organizational processes in this Advisor.