I just want to position my talk before I put the slides up. I think whatever was being discussed about the different domains and dimensions, I really want to focus on at a business level. So, I'm talking to business managers, HR professionals in particular, and about the development of the workforce. Agility at the business level is an investment in the workforce, but an investment to do what?
I'll be talking about the different behaviors, the arrangement, and the relationship between managers and staff and how that will change as you continue your journey—what I call "customer purpose." So, I'll get into the slides now. I'll just check that you can see them. Can someone confirm that? Are you seeing the slide? Hang on, let me try sharing again. Now? Yes? Okay. Hopefully, that's the only technical issue we’ll have.
Introduction
You've had my introduction. I'm a business strategist. I design organizations to create adaptiveness and design change programs, but you can read about that later.
The Times They Are A-Changin’
There’s a quote here to start us off—The Times They Are A-Changin’ by Bob Dylan. He’s a great American songwriter, but not a business analyst. That song, from the 60s, still holds something very relevant today about the economy and global landscapes. Everything is in turmoil.
We are experiencing constant change—global landscapes are shifting, new superpowers are emerging, trade wars are escalating. It’s an incredible period of change. How do you plan for that? As Evan said, you can’t. You need to be able to sense early, respond, and adapt as you go.
New Organizational Dynamics
This creates a very different type of organizational dynamic, requiring a different set of behaviors from staff, managers, and leaders. At the end of the day, our goal is profitability and growth. We want to create strong, resilient organizations that can weather any conditions. But our perspective of change must also change—we need to change the way we change.
Change cannot be seen as a negative; rather, it is an opportunity to explore and rapidly experiment. Everything with agile is about rapid experimentation and staying ahead of the competition. If we’re ahead, we are differentiating, creating incredible customer experiences, and delivering to their purpose. That, in turn, creates wealth, stability, investment, and secures everybody’s future.
Work Climate vs. Culture
What about the climate in the organization? I’m going to talk about climate more than culture. Climate measurements allow us to understand the behaviors of staff, managers, and leaders. I’ll be focusing on the components of climate that will change.
Adaptiveness Over Business Agility
A couple of years ago, I decided to talk about "adaptiveness" rather than "business agility" because, at that time, people thought implementing agile tools in the workplace equaled business agility. That’s not true. There’s a different job at the top—managers must engage with the marketplace and make strategic decisions. However, how they engage and gather information from their operations needs to change.
This is where adaptiveness comes in—it’s not just about process and efficiency gains. It’s about managing the old world while bringing in the new. We all need to rethink why and how we work together, achieving harmony with the marketplace regardless of how it shifts. Most importantly, it’s an investment in the workforce.
Trust Between Staff and Managers
For this investment to work, trust must exist between staff and managers. That is a big step for many organizations. Building trust means management must be serious about engaging staff in new ways. It’s not enough to say you trust your employees—you must show it through action.
Decision-Making in Adaptive Organizations
Decision-making is a real challenge for managers in adaptive organizations. They must learn to let go. I remember a manager telling me, "Steven, this was really hard. I had my steering wheel, and I thought I was steering the business. But when I let go, I realized the steering wheel wasn’t connected to anything. I just thought I was in control."
This is about letting go and trusting your teams. At the same time, employees need to learn to trust management. And here’s the challenge—trust is only built when management becomes trustworthy. You, as a leader, must demonstrate trustworthiness first.
Competing in the Marketplace
How you decide to compete in the marketplace determines how much adaptability you have as a business. It also influences which components of agile you adopt. If you are a manufacturer in an industrial model, your measurements and intentions will differ from those of a highly adaptive business. For many companies, understanding the customer’s purpose—not just their specifications—is key.
Work Climate and Behavior
The work climate consists of employees’ perceptions and feelings about their workplace, which drive behavior, commitment, involvement, and ultimately performance. Unlike culture, climate changes quickly—for better or worse.
Organizations need to shift toward a more adaptive climate, where leaders sense and adapt to external signals rather than making top-down decisions. This approach fosters engagement, co-creation of products and services, and collaboration.
Industrial vs. Adaptive Models
In an industrial model, companies prioritize cost reduction, work intensification, and efficiency. But in an adaptive model, organizations focus on learning, innovation, and differentiation. If your business must outperform competitors and pivot quickly, an adaptive model is necessary—an industrial design simply isn’t fast enough.
Enabling Mid-Level Managers
Mid-level managers play a crucial role in adaptation. They must facilitate collaboration, share customer intelligence, and empower employees to implement ideas. Performance management needs to shift from traditional metrics to more adaptive, customer-driven goals.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, you get the behavior you design for—or fail to design for. That’s your choice. You can create an organization where everyone is engaged and contributing, or you can allow outdated structures to limit your potential.
The quality of organizational design directly impacts work-life quality and long-term business profitability. The way you design roles, performance measurement systems, and collaboration mechanisms determines your ability to thrive in a rapidly changing world.
So, what does your organization look like? Are you responding to customer needs, or just fixing things that go wrong? Are you truly adapting, or are you just surviving?
These are the questions we must ask ourselves as we build the future of work.
Thank you.