Agile Strategy (remote), October 18 2021

Agile Strategy is an approach designed to address one of the most challenging business issues of our time – how to develop and execute strategy successfully and consistently when the business environment is uncertain and constantly changing. Agile Strategy is intended to provide a coherent framework within which these challenges may be identified, understood, and addressed.

Agile Strategy comprises agile direction, the process of strategy formulation in an uncertain environment, and agile execution, enabled and connected by an agile operating model. It therefore enables whole organisations to be adaptive, whether they chose to adopt agile working methods or not.

Module 1. Formulating strategy to allow agility.

Led by Stephen Bungay.

Purpose: In an environment of radical uncertainty, strategy should be developed and formulated to enable the organisation as a whole to be agile. We call this approach directional strategy. It involves the first two practices:

Practice 1. Making sense of the landscape (situational awareness).
Practice 2. Being clear about what really matters.

Outcomes:

To understand how to make good decisions when you cannot make good predictions
To be able to set direction as a compass heading rather than a destination by articulating core beliefs
To create a framework for decision making which optimise for robustness rather than efficiency
To create an operating rhythm which enables you to test and revise beliefs and adopt an evolving series of stances and out-learn the competition.

Module 2. Applying leading through intent to create an agile operating model.

Led by Stephen Bungay and Mark Bouch.

Purpose: Implementing an agile organisational operating model requires the application of three more practices. This module will introduce Leading through Intent together with tools and techniques to apply it in practice.

Practice 3. Translating intent into action by developing a common shared understanding.
Practice 4. Setting and applying appropriate boundaries.
Practice 5. Facilitating alignment.

Outcomes:

Understanding and confidence to apply the practices using the strategy briefing (5MAP™) technique learned in the modul.

Module 3. Exercising adaptive leadership.

Led by Mark Bouch.

Purpose: This module focuses on the sixth practice- enabling people to make the best use of their freedom to act and make decisions. It describes the expectations, language and behaviours associated with intent-based leadership necessary to create a trusting and supportive environment where team members will be willing and able to adapt in line with the intent as the situation changes.

Outcomes:

Understand how agile operations are enabled by leadership culture and behaviour.
Discover how six leadership plays enable leading through intent;
Reflect on learning and make individual commitments to change something about the way they lead and coach leadership;

Preparations

Some participants will have read Art of Action, though it is not essential to have done so. We recommend spending at least 30 minutes scanning https://www.agilestrategy.co.uk/. Focusing on the ‘How does it work’ section. This will provide some useful background.