Agile Business Problem Solving: 4 Learnings from Andrew Karpie
Catalant recently hosted a LiveCast on agile business problem solving that provided attendees with a deeper understanding of why agility is a critical capability for businesses looking to manage long-range, flexible planning in 2022 and beyond.
Andrew Karpie, an independent analyst and consultant in the contingent talent industry, spoke about the rapidly evolving nature of business problem solving, labor dynamics, and worker autonomy. Karpiealso explained why these shifts require an immediate and agile response.
Agile Business Problem Solving: 4 Key Takeaways
1. Macro-economic changes have driven unprecedented changes and challenges for the enterprise.
Traditional supply chains we once relied on prior to COVID-19 have proven to be brittle. In recent years, just-in-time models have proven to have shelf lives for businesses dealing with major changes. Intangible, human supply chains have also experienced an inversion in power dynamics between workers and employers in recent years — the best talent expects more autonomy and flexibility. Without an agile model and response to these macro-economic changes, your business is at risk of losing its best talent, falling behind competitors, and becoming less relevant among your target audience.
2. Agile business problem solving has become a critical capability.
Agile business problem solving is part of a strategic sense, evaluate, and respond framework. It’s how companies can quickly and effectively respond to change, proactively manage risks, and execute strategies that directly impact ROI. Traditional strategic planning and initiative execution must be complemented by an agile capability for businesses to sense, evaluate, and respond to fast-moving opportunities and challenges.
3. Hiring managers are seeing many benefits from distributed work.
Today, the average hiring manager — no matter their level in the organization — increasingly favors distributed work. This entails investing in a combination of internal (e.g. full-time) talent and external talent (e.g. independent consultants). The major reasons for today’s shift towards hiring more external talent are:
- Increased flexibility across projects.
- Specialized and skilled talent in your challenge area.
- Greater speed to address a problem.
4. Agile business problem solving is most successfully implemented through a test-and-learn approach.
What’s the best approach for your company to construct an agile business problem-solving program? Are there any obstacles that your business needs to overcome while embracing an agile approach?
Start by finding the place in your organization where an agile approach can take root and prove itself into your larger strategy. As your agile strategy shows its value to the organization, implement it throughout more departments and levels of the company. This type of approach will also help you manage any concerns (e.g. culture, fear, change management, uncertainty) that team members may have due to a lack of experience with an agile business problem-solving approach.
Incorporate Agile Business Problem Solving at Your Company
With an agile business problem-solving approach, your business will see improvements in ROI, time-to-value, and flexible yet sustainable future proofing. Get started with the help of a skilled and independent consultant who can help you remain agile and drive results at speed.