We hear a lot about the importance of agility in today’s business environment. But what does that mean in practice? My organization, Project Management Institute, recently set out to answer that exact question, surveying more than 700 C-suite leaders to develop a manifesto that not only defines enterprise agility but also identifies tradeoffs that provide organizations with a clear roadmap for achieving it.
Here are three key takeaways from our quantitative research and extensive dialogue with executives across industries and 12 countries.
1. Transformation is business as usual
Cruise control won’t cut it anymore; while an overwhelming 93% of senior executives agree that operating models must be challenged at least every five years, the reality is moving much faster. Today, 65% of organizations are adapting and rewriting their business approaches every two years or sooner.
However, when asked about their top barrier to reinvention, 35% of CEOs said it’s a disconnect between planning and execution. Deciding how to change is one thing, but doing it is different—and much harder.
Closing this gap needs an urgent focus on building the capability to continuously deliver outcomes. Giles Lindsay, CIO at Agile Delta, explains: “Reinvention is not an event; it is a rhythm. It becomes a capability, not a program. Every sprint, every quarter, and every strategy review create space to test, learn, and adjust.”
2. Not everyone feels accountable
Roughly one in four CEOs said the presence of functional silos over shared accountabilities gets in the way of enterprise agility. If there isn’t a collective sense of responsibility, it’s hard to implement change.
For enterprise agility to become a reality, organizations must prioritize long-term enterprise goals and cross-functional collaboration over short-term, departmental, sub-optimized KPIs. Howard Yu, professor at IMD Business School, explains that the ultimate goal is having agility fully embedded across the enterprise. “Organizations that are more agile are always slightly better prepared for the unexpected—two, three steps ahead of the competition.”
3. Agility starts at the top
Successful transformation starts at the top, with leaders setting the tone for how change is understood and embraced across the organization. A key theme is the importance of a leadership mindset that embraces change while staying grounded in a clear purpose to guide decision-making through disruption. As David Dabscheck, CEO and founder of GIANT Innovation, told us, “Reinvention thrives in cultures where people feel safe to experiment and learn. My role as a leader is to create that environment, where trying, failing, and learning are encouraged rather than punished.”
Research from the Boston Consulting Group found that transformation success is 70% more likely when leadership is aligned on scope and helps employees understand why they need to be part of the change.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Across industries and geographies, leaders are encountering the same challenges. There’s great value in looking outside your own organization to understand what’s working for others and what’s not. “Reinvention is a mindset—a mindset that embraces curiosity, learning, and change,” said Heidi Musser, Board member and advisor. The leaders who are mastering enterprise agility are not just running agile teams; they are creating and maintaining organizations built for change.
Pierre Le Manh is president and CEO of PMI.