Isn't that cool? That's cool music, isn't it? Aha. At least some people are nodding. Well, and for the people who don't like it, I'm sorry to tell you—this is cool music by definition. It's called Cool Jazz. And I will come back to this later. So remember the Cool Jazz.
Actually, I brought more than my latest book to the bookstore—most of those you see here. I'm very proud that David Hussman also shared his insights in the book. That’s also a cool thing. However, I'm not talking about that today. I'm talking about, well, to be honest, we tried to put as many buzzwords as possible into one title and made a book out of that. And that’s what I want to talk about—company-wide agility with, and now it comes: beyond budgeting, open space, and sociocracy.
These are the things we’re mixing together. Actually, we wanted to add even more buzzwords, but I didn’t manage to do so. One I really wanted to include is VUCA because that’s the motivation behind writing this book. We are living in a VUCA world—volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. That means things we used to do don’t work anymore.
The VUCA World & Digitalization
For example, estimating—we can try to get better at it, but it doesn’t really improve. Or planning—we can do more of it, but it doesn’t help, because as soon as we are done with the plan, things change. The plan becomes useless instantly.
Adding to this VUCA environment, there’s another buzzword I would have loved to include in the title: digitalization. Both VUCA and digitalization demand that companies become agile. Planning, estimating—these things no longer work as they once did. Companies must be agile in the literal sense—flexible, responsive, adaptive, nimble.
Because of digitalization, companies are now all software companies, even if they don’t realize it yet. A car manufacturer? An insurance company? They might still think that’s what they are, but in reality, they are software companies. That’s why they are looking at agile practices—hoping they will help.
Applying Agile Beyond Techniques
However, as Fred quoted me, companies often look at agile as a hammer. They implement Scrum or Daily Scrum at the board level, have a backlog, and ask a Scrum Master to run the meeting. That might improve meetings, but it doesn’t make the company truly agile. There’s a difference between *being* agile and merely *applying* agile techniques.
So what does it really mean? We need to focus on principles and values, not just practices. I don’t want to bore you with those—you already know them. But they are still relevant, just not in the way they were originally written. We examined what they mean for company-wide agility, and instead of creating yet another manifesto, we simply translated these values into a company-wide context.
Agile Values in Company-Wide Agility
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools → Translates to **self-organization**. Only self-organizing people can be flexible and fast enough to respond to change.
- Working software over comprehensive documentation → Translates to **transparency**. The goal of working software is transparency—documentation doesn’t provide that level of clarity.
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation → Translates to **constant customer focus**.
- Responding to change over following a plan → Translates to **continuous learning**. This is the toughest part.
These four values are required for a company to become truly agile.
Building on Proven Techniques
Knowing these values is fine, but what’s next? One thing I love is looking at what’s already available—proven principles, techniques, and practices—rather than reinventing the wheel. There’s a lot out there, and if you start exploring, you’ll never be done.
We examined different areas: facilitation techniques, specific implementations, and philosophies like Spiral Dynamics and Teal Organizations. However, we found some models too generic, while others were too specific. People look at the Spotify model, but—spoiler alert—there’s no such thing as *the* Spotify model. If you copy what Spotify does today, they will have changed it by tomorrow.
The Bossa Nova Approach
We took a Goldilocks approach—neither too specific nor too generic—focusing on what’s proven, widely used, and practical. This is how we developed what we now call **Bossa Nova**.
And now, remember the *cool* at the beginning? Bossa Nova has different meanings. It’s a style of music—a fusion of Cool Jazz and Samba (you already heard part of it at the start). It also means "new wave" or "new trend"—which is what we hope we’re creating here.
The Four Streams of Bossa Nova
These four perspectives help companies become truly agile:
1. Beyond Budgeting
Despite its name, Beyond Budgeting is not just about budgets—it’s a management model beyond command and control. Traditional budgeting combines three purposes:
- Setting goals (Where do we want to be?)
- Forecasting (What do we think will happen?)
- Resource allocation (Where do we invest money?)
When we separate these, we gain flexibility. Instead of fixed targets, we use relative targets. Instead of static annual budgets, we use rolling forecasts. This approach allows companies to be more dynamic.
2. Open Space
Open Space is often used as a facilitation technique, but it can also be a company-wide strategy. It means keeping invitations open all the time, allowing ideas and innovations to emerge continuously.
Companies like W.L. Gore (makers of Gore-Tex) use this model. If someone has a great idea and enough people support it, it moves forward. If nobody is interested, the idea fades away. This self-organizing approach fosters innovation.
3. Sociocracy
Sociocracy is a governance model based on **equivalence**. Decision-making is done through **consent**, meaning acceptance rather than full agreement. If someone objects, they must explain how the decision risks the overall goal, making objections valuable rather than obstacles.
Unlike traditional hierarchies, sociocracy introduces **double-linking**—ensuring feedback flows in both directions, not just top-down.
4. Agile
You already know Agile. The key is **expecting change** and embracing experimentation.
Experimentation & Probes
There is no one-size-fits-all recipe for agility. The best approach is to reflect on your company’s situation, identify pain points, and run **experiments**.
Example: Is Trust Cheaper?
Many companies have strict travel expense procedures, despite trusting employees with million-dollar projects. The hypothesis: **Trust is cheaper** than bureaucracy.
One company introduced three simple rules for expenses:
- It must be legal.
- You must take care of yourself (no extreme cost-cutting at the expense of well-being).
- It must be reasonable.
Another company had only one rule: **Make all expenses transparent on the intranet**. This led to self-regulation.
Final Thoughts
There is no fixed blueprint for agility. The key is continuous experimentation—trying, learning, and evolving.
And now, if you suggest an experiment and get weird looks from your peers, just say: **Blame it on Bossa Nova**. Thank you!