Summary

In this chapter, we learned that governing for greater agility is about optimizing the entire value stream, in order to deliver valuable outcomes aligned to fulfill the purpose of the enterprise. The focus of governance must shift from being on process and compliance, to focusing on inclusiveness and delivering valuable outcomes. The decision-making must be collaborative and must include teams that are directly delivering outcomes. The metrics must enable decision-making by not only measuring progress toward the outcomes but also pointing to variables that can influence the outcomes.

At the company level, governance is about keeping the business on the fine line between order and chaos, that is, on the "edge of chaos" [xiii]. As stated in Chapter 3, The Enterprise as a Living System, complex adaptive systems function best when they are on this edge, in terms of enabling experimentation and learning, and therefore are better equipped to respond and adapt to change.

The next chapter...