From critical mass to critical agility

 

Historically, critical mass was the dominant driver for competitive advantage, both in the private and public sector. As production batches are trending towards lot size 1 and with digitalisation on an exponential trajectory, barriers to enter traditional bastions of large corporations and government agencies are in a downward spiral. Size alone does no longer offer the cushion of comfort it once did. Without changing the way organisations function, critical mass is mutating from cost advantage to impediment to change.

 

Speed and agility are the new paradigm for success in a world spinning at the heartbeat of AI. And it's not just about technology and innovation. It's about the agility to adapt and redeploy everything - strategies, structures, assets, business models, processes, culture, talent.

​

​

From a culture of permission to a culture of empowerment

​

Large organisations are built around a culture of permission. Management will authorise what others have prepared for them to decide upon. This model worked well for several decades. It worked well for as long as all levels of management were experts in all relevant subjects and for as long as there was enough time to work your way up and down the chain of command.

 

But what if the world were changing so fast that no management could keep up to date with all knowledge and experience required? What if the world had become so complex that it took months to involve all parties to come to the right decision? What if the decision making model were too slow to adapt to new insights and developments?

 

The top-down modus operandi has seen its best days. It is time to empower organisations bottom-up. A culture of empowerment, however, is much more than just granting power of permission to everyone - this would just increase risk. It is about adopting an alternative leadership and collaboration model to make decisions quickly by leveraging the collective ingenuity and experience inherent to any team and - at the same time - to reduce the risk of being wrong.

​

​

From management to entrepreneurial leadership

​

Nobody will deny the primacy of leadership over management. We believe this is not enough: leadership needs to rise to entrepreneurial leadership. In a world of increasing speed of innovation, leaders need to have the  ability to deliver entrepreneurial value creation, the ability to envision the future - and to craft it against all odds. Entrepreneurial leaders see opportunities and missing links, unite others around their vision, develop solutions with a 10x systematic advantage over alternatives, attract the talent and resources necessary for the undertaking and have the determination, stamina, perseverance and resilience to see it through.    

Entrepreneurial leadership is not confined to senior leadership. In the bottom-up organisation, every leader, every employee really, needs to master entrepreneurial savoir-faire. Managing to plan is just not enough when machines are becoming better at it by the week.