Reading time ( words)
The Age of Agile: How Smart Companies are Transforming the Way Work Gets Done
Author: Stephen Denning
Amacon, 2018
Price $ 28.00
The future is all about speed and agility. Companies who don’t adapt to and even embrace change will not survive very long in this new age of doing business at super speeds.
This new book by Stephen Denning addresses the issue of change and adaptability like no other book I have read thus far…and I read a lot of business books! Centering on meeting the challenges of new and often changing business environments and how to meet them, the author’s focus on agility runs from the power of smaller teams that are focused on solving problems quickly while eschewing the normal bureaucratic road blocks that have been in place for decades.
Denning uses real examples of large companies Ericsson and Microsoft that are adapting small company flexibilities, as well as new world companies like AirBnB, Lyft, and Etsy, which have moved at lightning speed, becoming world leaders in record time. Denning takes pains to illustrate how new companies are using agility to move forward completely unencumbered by traditional systems and business mores.
I was especially impressed with the focus on the customer by every single person in every department in the company. Everyone is fully aware of who the customer is, what her needs are, and the best way to meet those needs. In real time, using data, these companies are adapting on the run to best meet their customers’ ever-changing needs and requirements.
One of the best things about this book is the step-by-step implementation process of how to transform a company from traditional organization focus to strategic agility by highlighting the problems companies may have shedding their more traditional habits and strategies while trying to become a more agile company.
If you find yourself lost in the quagmire of old time thinking, or you are watching your company fail as the world flashes past your window, get this book today. It will change the way you look at business, your market, and best of all, your company. This is important stuff.
