Good management practices stop working amid rapid change. For that reason, many businesses have chosen to adopt agile management practices. In 2001, the pioneers of this approach, which originated in the software development industry, created the âManifesto for Agile Software Development,â often called the âAgile Manifesto.â This core document asserts that developers of high-quality software must abandon some of the core principles of 20th-century management to enter âthe age of agile.â Management expert Stephen Denning lucidly explains the origins and principles of agile management with illustrative case studies.
The US Army and Agile Management
Toward the end of 2003, the US Armyâs Task Force had a dilemma in Iraq. Despite its superior training and equipment, it couldnât defeat its poorly armed opponents. General Stanley McChrystal, one of the US Armyâs most acclaimed commanders, took charge that October. At first, he couldnât grasp how a motley group of insurgents could defeat his troops. In time, he came to understand that while the task force functioned well following its training and routines, its foes worked as a flexible network. In a highly volatile situation, a military machine couldnât match an agile insurgent network.
McChrystal found he was making decisions from headquarters that his teams should have been making on the ground. Though sophisticated, the task force functioned slowly. Its plans became outmoded before it could enact them. Each part of the task force concentrated on its own duties, and its teams didnât work collectively to defeat the enemy. The task force found coordinating with other organizations such as the CIA, the FBI and the NSA a daunting challenge. McChrystal transformed the task force from a bureaucracy into a network. ...
Stephen Denning worked at the World Bank for several decades in various management positions. A consultant to governments and companies, heâs written business books, many articles on management, a novel and a volume of poetry.
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