Business Agility Foundations: An Agile Culture

Understand how culture is key in creating an agile organisation

“If we do not manage culture, it will manage us, and we may not even be aware of the extent to which this is happening,” Edgar Schein.

We all have values, beliefs and behaviours that shape who we are and how we interact with each other and the outside world. In a business agility culture, uncertainty can be handled more efficiently by a team that is naturally more adaptable, flexible, and innovative. But what are the elements of an agile culture, and how do we assess an organisation’s competencies in these elements?

Appreciate the need for a culture change to enable business agility

On this three-week course, you’ll be introduced to the elements that make up an agile culture. You’ll learn about the impact of culture in the workplace, often described as ‘the way we do things around here’.

You’ll learn about the DNA of an agile culture and how to assess the current culture in an organisation you know well. You will be able to identify areas of strength and weakness across the seven agile culture DNA elements, which will help you to understand and respond to the culture of an organisation.

Learn to reflect on organisational culture with experts in the field

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to identify key elements that influence culture in an organisation you know well. Using a culture assessment tool to inform your understanding of an organisation, you’ll be able to interpret results from the tool to reflect on possible actions.

This course, designed by specialists at The Open University and the Agile Business Consortium, will introduce you to the elements that make up an agile culture and help you consider a culture change that’s needed to enable business agility.

This course is for anyone new to business agility or those with a basic understanding who want to know more. Some workplace and/or team-based experience will help you understand the content of the course in the context of a working organisation (of any size, sector, or industry). It’s particularly suitable for:

• Those who want to know how they can develop their own practical business agility for future roles.
• Those struggling to understand how to survive and thrive in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world.
• Those wishing to broaden their skillset and expand their Continuing Professional Development.