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University of Maryland, College Park

Agile, Healthy, and Attractive Organizations

University of Maryland, College Park via edX

Overview

AHA (Agile, Healthy, Attractive) organizations are intentionally built to flourish in unstable, unpredictable, complicated, and unclear (VUCA) situations by using complexity economics, which differ from conventional neoclassical economic models.

Core Elements of AHA Organizations:

Flexibility: These organizations stay flexible by constantly updating their business plans and mental models, reacting quickly to changes in their external environments. This adjustability ensures they remain competitive within their respective industries.

Health: AHA entities stay healthy by keeping the ability to adapt, and balancing their purpose, skills, and resources.

Purposeful: Being purpose-driven makes AHA organizations appealing to both employees and customers. They are great places to work and partner with, as they match organizational goals with individual values and needs.

Communication and Decision-Making: AHA organizations see communication as essential, creating flexible organizational entities that are constantly changing through interactions and information flow.

Organizational Structure: AHA organizations shape their internal fitness landscape according to their external contexts, using business plans and mental models that align different internal groups.

Strategic Tools and Advanced Models:

Business Plan Elements: AHA business plans incorporate innovative technologies and skills, adapting to the changing requirements and expectations of the organization and the market.

Adaptive and Routine Capabilities: AHA organizations are proficient in both responding to new situations (adaptive capabilities) and running daily activities (routine capabilities), essential for lasting success.

Composable Enterprise: AHA organizations relies on digital technologies like cloud computing and APIs to enable easy integration and reconfiguration.

Digital Twins and Causal AI: These technologies improve how organizations work by giving current data and forecasts, helping with choices, and making operations better.

AI-Managed Programs and Leadership: Composable enterprises use AI-enhanced programs to boost efficiency and decision-making. This way, leaders can handle rapidly changing situations, creating a culture of innovation and collaboration.

AHA organizations are built to thrive in today's complex business environment by being highly adaptable, communicating strategically, and using technology creatively, establishing a strong foundation for lasting success and growth.

Syllabus

Week One

  • The Origins of a New Kind of Organization

  • The Toyota Production System: An AHA Organization

  • Agile

  • Healthy

  • Attractive

Week Two

  • Presidential Campaigns - A Fortune 500 Company Overnight

  • Introduction to Spotify as an AHA Organization

  • Agile in AHA

  • Dynamic Capabilities and Operational Capabilities

  • AHA Programs, Projects, and Teams

Week Three

  • Organizations as Decision Factories

  • How Apple's Decision Making Makes It an AHA Organization

  • Knowledge and Communication in Making Decisions

  • Balancing Operational and Dynamic Capabilities in AHA Organizations

  • Coordinated Management of Meaning in Decision Making

Week Four

  • The Composable Enterprise: The High-Powered AHA Organization

  • Scheer GmbH as a Composable Enterprise

  • The Components of the Composable Enterprise

  • The AI-Managed Composable Enterprise

  • Leadership for the Composable Enterprise

Taught by

Bill Brantley

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