Agility Shift: Creating Agile and Effective Leaders, Teams, and Organizations

by Pamela Meyer

Overview

As contrary as it sounds, "planning" -- as we traditionally understand the term--can be the worst thing a company can do. Consider that volatile weather events disrupt trusted supply chains, markets, and promised delivery schedules. Ever-shifting geo-political tensions, as well as internal political upheaval within U.S. and global governments, derail long-planned new ventures. Technology failures block opportunities. Competitors suddenly change their product or release date; your team cannot meet the pace of innovations in your market niche, leaving you sidelined. There are myriad ways in the current business environment for a company's well-considered business plans to go awry. Most business schools continue to prepare managers to be effective in stable and predictable environments, conditions that, if they ever existed at all, are long gone. The Agility Shift shows business leaders exactly how to make the radical mindset and strategy shift necessary to create an agile, entrepreneurial organization that can innovate and thrive in complex, ever-changing contexts. As author Pamela Meyer explains, there is much more involved than a reconfiguration of the org chart and job descriptions. It requires relinquishing the illusion of control at the very foundation of most management training and business practice. Despite most leaders' approaches, "Agility is not simply accelerated planning." Unlike many agility books on the market, The Agility Shift provides specific, actionable strategies and tactics for leaders at all levels of the organization to put into practice immediately to improve agility and achieve results.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781629560700
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/06/2015
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction, Part One. Understanding the Value and Dynamics of the Agility Shift, Chapter One. The Agility Shift: What and Why, Chapter Two. Weaving the Relational Web for Agility, Chapter Three. Discovering the Five Dynamics of the Agility Shift, Part Two. Making the Agility Shift at All Levels of the System, Chapter Four. Becoming an Agile Leader: Empowering Everyone to Be Agile, Chapter Five. Building the Agile Team, Chapter Six. Co-Creating the Agile Organization, Chapter Seven. Maximizing Agility Within the Ecosystem, Part Three. Putting Agility to Work, Chapter Eight Shifting to Agile Learning and Development, Chapter Nine. Recruiting, Reinforcing, Recognizing, and Retaining Your Agile Talent, Epilogue. Accepting the Invitation, Appendix A: The Agile Manifesto, Appendix B: Agility Exercises and Games, Notes, References, Index, Acknowledgments, About the Author

Editorial Reviews

07/27/2015
Meyer, the president of consulting firm Meyer Creativity Services, has expanded her work with companies seeking greater "agility" into an overextended book-length admonition to business leaders to prepare themselves for change. The titular agility shift is "the intentional development of the competence, capacity, and confidence to learn, adapt, and innovate in changing contexts for sustainable success." This quality, according to Meyer, is essential for companies looking to navigate fast-changing times. Peppered with buzzwords, the text revolves around the care and maintenance of the "relational web," the network of relationships that allow organizations to move with "competence, capacity, and confidence." Meyer instructs readers on methods for making the shift happen, which include challenging the status quo, training up fresh talent, shifting long-ingrained mind-sets, and empowering new leadership. The case studies are interesting and entertaining (Capt. Chesley Sullenberger, the airline pilot known for safely landing his plane on the Hudson River, is a standout), but there's not much new here, and the dense, dry writing is likely to leave readers feeling uncomfortably like they're reading an outsize PowerPoint presentation. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

“This book is a tour de force for leaders at every level who must develop a capacity to experiment, adapt, and learn amidst a turbulent VUCA environment. Meyer offers insight that ranges from neurobiology to relational webs; stories that range from leaders of major corporations to UPS managers; the challenges that range from recruiting agile leaders to creating cultures that nurture them. Covering a wide terrain at such a deep level, this is an important book that deserves a wide readership.” – Frank J. Barrett, author of Yes to the Mess: Surprising Leadership Lessons

“Meyer provides a powerful framework and accompanying suggestions… to help you immediately start creating an effective culture of agile leaders and teams.”
– DeBorah Lenchard, Director of Education & Talent Development, Spot Trading LLC

“Brilliant yet simple, The Agility Shift is a must-read for all professionals and will serve as a useful practical guide in today’s constantly changing business environment.” – Rohit Manchanda, Trade & Investment Commissioner, India, New South Wales Government, Mumbai

“Detailed and highly entertaining… Brimming with compelling examples of agility in action, this is an essential guide to a new and more effective organizational approach.” – Tom Barr, Ph.D., Knowledge Manager, Enablon North America Corp

“Clear and insightful… The Agility Shift is packed with relevant and diverse examples that drive significant points about intentionally transforming organizational life.” – Lisa Gundry, Ph.D., Professor and Director, Center for Creativity and Innovation, DePaul University

“A must-read… Meyer brings a unique combination of personal and professional experience and her practical approach and tools can help leaders, individuals, teams, and organizations make the shift to being more responsive, innovative and agile. I highly recommend this book!” – Ann Manikas, VP of Human Resources and Inclusion, United Way of Metropolitan Chicago

“The Agility Shift makes clear that if we want to survive and thrive (in good times and in crisis), all individuals, teams, and organizations must make a strategic priority of becoming more agile. Just as importantly, she lays out recommendations for how to do it.” – Greg Owen-Boger, co-author, The Orderly Conversation: Business Presentations Redefined

From the Publisher