The Age Of Agile: What Every CEO Needs To Know

Last month, at the world's leading general management conference--the Drucker Forum in Vienna Austria--Julian Birkinshaw, Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the London Business School and Director of the Deloitte Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, declared provocatively that we are living in "the Age of Agile." The full text of Julian's important talk is set out below. He also has a new book coming out next year entitled Fast/Forward: Make Your Company Fit For the Future. Earlier this week, I discussed these issues with Julian. Steve Denning: In your talk, you spoke about three possible forms of organization: bureaucracy, meritocracy and adhocracy. Could you tell us more? Julian Birkinshaw: Bureaucracy is about and occupying roles and following rules. Meritocracy is a knowledge-based view of the organization, including big data and analytics. Adhocracy is an action-based view of the organization focused on capturing opportunities, solving problems and getting results. Denning: Where does "the age of Agile" fit into this scheme?