HBR Insights Future of Business Boxed Set (8 Books)

7

HOW AGILE TEAMS CAN HELP TURNAROUNDS SUCCEED

by Darrell K. Rigby, Simon Henderson, and Marco D’Avino

Agile—the management approach that relies on small, entrepreneurial, close-to-the-customer teams—has a reputation that reflects its rapid adoption in software development. It’s for techies. It’s for hip Silicon Valley startups. It is most definitely not for big, old-line companies that are facing an existential crisis and require a full-scale turnaround. In that situation, what you need is a clairvoyant dictator, someone who knows exactly what to do and can bring in the mercenaries to do it.

Let’s look at these myths—for myths they are—in reverse order, dictator first.

Contrary to conventional wisdom and Hollywood action movies, dictatorial ...