Creating a Culture of Innovation for our Fast-Changing World

Autoren: Mark Mueller-Eberstein and Charlie Rudd

The modern innovation economy is a world of complex market systems that shift and morph in the blink of an eye.  Knowledge, technology and speed combined form the foundation of this new economy with unprecedented opportunities for individuals and organizations.  The challenge for any leader is keeping products, services and even organizations relevant in this fast changing and unpredictable world and taking advantage of capabilities and quickly emerging and disappearing windows of prospects and chances.   Even if you are successful in staying relevant today, how do you provide long-term value in a world obsessed with short-term goals and quarterly earnings?

To be crystal clear; there is no easy format to success.  And if your organization and culture is firmly entrenched in the industrial age—fixed on producing the same (old) products at the lowest possible costs—this is not the book for you. There is plenty of great literature and case studies on how to successfully run an industrial age organization.  But if the ability to innovate, learn, incorporate and change directions quickly is critical for your markets, your organization and you, as a leader, then welcome to The Agile CEO.

Experimenting, failing and learning have become the tools to success.  Driven by a vibrant start-up culture, there has been a huge focus on the “failing fast” philosophy.  Success requires trying and learning quickly.   For the leader, it means creating a culture of innovation—across all levels, functions and processes.  It means transforming hierarchies, employees and management into an organization that can learn quickly and change directions to leverage opportunities.  It means creating and leading an Agile organization. 

Mark Mueller-Eberstein and Charlie Rudd, both experts in Agile organizations and processes, bring together practical executive experience, the latest research and current trends in organizational culture, structure and governance.  The result is a roadmap on how to create an Agile organization.

We found, that leaders and organizations need to subscribe to foundational beliefs that are required for success in a complicated world full of changes, complication and opportunities.

1. Embrace change & uncertainty
2. Redefine success to include failures as requirements to learn
3. Align on purpose continually
4. The customer defines value—always

For those, who share these believes with us, we have listed the guiding principles when making business decisions and how to master the three critical areas of change:

1. Transforming the role of the leader
2. Embracing a culture that supports constant change and improvement
3. Building an organizational structure that drives innovation

Change will reach into every facet of the organization.

 Many companies—especially small technology startups—start agile and innovative. And, some manage to stay agile as they grow into large organizations.  Do they plan on being an Agile organization?  Probably not, but they do know that small, empowered, learning and agile teams are the key to continuous innovation.   They embrace “trial & error.” They encourage experimentation and nontraditional business networking.  They focus on constantly hypothesizing, verifying/falsifying and building on learning. They embrace a “failure leads to success” mentality.

Can established organizations become “agile” (again)?  Yes, large organizations like AT&T, GE and Verizon Wireless drive corporate-wide initiatives across all their businesses and functions to embrace a more agile culture.  We will talk about organizations that have successfully transformed their industrial age management theories into knowledge economy powerhouses.
Is there one illuminated path to success? There are definitely things that work well. There are recipes to follow but, like all good cooking, they require modification to suit your organization’s unique strengths and opportunities.  It is our intention with our  agile leadership principles to provide the guidance when making the decisions on the path to an agile organization.

Cover info:

Mark Mueller-Eberstein and Charlie Rudd, both experts in leadership, Agile strategy, organizations and processes, answer the question of building and embracing innovative and future oriented organizations by bringing together practical executive experience, the latest research and current trends in organizational culture, structure and governance.  The result is a roadmap with clear guiding principles on how to create an Agile organization every step of the way.