The Agility Advantage: How to Identify and Act on Opportunities in a Fast–Changing World

PRAISE FOR THE AGILITY ADVANTAGE “Amanda Setili’s book provides practical techniques and insightful examples to guide companies in becoming more agile. Haier is a large, global company, but it is also an innovation platform for multiple agile, small companies. I highly recommend The Agility Advantage to any CEO or leader who seeks to quickly and effectively respond to fast–changing markets throughout the world.” —Zhang Ruimin, CEO, Haier “With constant changes to technology and customer expectations, I have not yet found an industry that reinvents itself as quickly as wireless. This pace of change calls for true agility, and AT&T puts agility in action by staying flexible, looking for innovation from any source, and acting quickly on new ideas. The Agility Advantage is a must–read for companies that want to become more agile.” —Glenn Lurie, president, emerging enterprises and partnerships, AT&T “Velocity is our primary competitive advantage at The Weather Company, especially as user–generated content, social media, business partnerships, and data innovation become more critical to our success. Amanda Setili’s study of agility, and how it leads to faster knowledge, decisions, and actions, helps us???and any company???identify the potential game–changers in our industry and move quickly in new directions.” —David Kenny, chairman and CEO, The Weather Company, and cofounder, Digitas “With The Agility Advantage , Amanda Setili provides a practical guide for how any organization???large or small, high–tech or no–tech, local or global???can read the winds of change and jump on new opportunities as they emerge. The Agility Advantage is a critical read and should be added to your business book collection this year.” —Hala Moddelmog, president and CEO, Metro Atlanta Chamber, and former president, Arby???s “Kabbage disrupts financial services by leveraging big data to serve customers that traditional banks cannot. We’ve recently started partnering with the very institutions we sought to disrupt. When I first heard about Amanda Setili’s book, I figured it would be the ammunition I needed to convince larger companies to quickly deploy our platform so that they can effectively serve small businesses throughout the world. However, not only have these strategies helped in advancing our activities with partners, we’ve also been able to capitalize on them to accelerate our own growth and effectiveness. The Agility Advantage is remarkable.” —Rob Frohwein, CEO, Kabbage

Preface ix 1 What Is Agility—and Why Is It Valuable? 1 2 See Through Your Customers’ Eyes: How to See What Your Competitor Can’t 21 3 Right Customers, Right Value, Right Time: Identify Your Most Attractive Customers and Pivot with Them 43 4 Love the Problem: Dig Deep to Find New Insights 67 5 Turn Trends into Opportunities: Stop Preparing for the Future and Create It 89 6 Create Breakthrough Strategies: Generate Creative Alternatives for Capitalizing on the Changes You See 113 7 Manage Uncertainty: Be Courageous, Anticipate What Might Happen, and Address Risks Head–On 139 8 Turning a Strategic Corner: Take the First Steps, Shed What Doesn’t Fit, Experiment, and Reinforce 161 9 Agility as a Way of Life: Leverage the Power of Purpose, Autonomy, and Continuous Adaptation 185 Conclusion 209 Notes 211 Acknowledgments 221 About the Author 225 Index 227

AMANDA SETILI is managing partner of strategy consulting firm Setili & Associates, whose clients include Coca–Cola, Delta Air Lines, The Home Depot, and Walmart. She previously held positions with McKinsey & Company and Kimberly–Clark, and served as an executive with two successful disruptive technology startups, in the United States and Malaysia. Setili is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and Harvard Business School and has taught as an adjunct professor at Emory’s Goizueta Business School. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information, please visit www.setili.com

“Amanda Setili’s book provides practical techniques and insightful examples to guide companies in becoming more agile. Haier is a large, global company, but it is also an innovation platform for multiple agile, small companies. I highly recommend The Agility Advantage to any CEO or leader who seeks to quickly and effectively respond to fast–changing markets throughout the world.” —Zhang Ruimin, CEO, Haier “With constant changes to technology and customer expectations, I have not yet found an industry that reinvents itself as quickly as wireless. This pace of change calls for true agility, and AT&T puts agility in action by staying flexible, looking for innovation from any source, and acting quickly on new ideas. The Agility Advantage is a must–read for companies that want to become more agile.” —Glenn Lurie, president, emerging enterprises and partnerships, AT&T “Velocity is our primary competitive advantage at The Weather Company, especially as user–generated content, social media, business partnerships, and data innovation become more critical to our success. Amanda Setili’s study of agility, and how it leads to faster knowledge, decisions, and actions, helps us—and any company—identify the potential game–changers in our industry and move quickly in new directions.” —David Kenny, chairman and CEO, The Weather Company, and cofounder, Digitas “With The Agility Advantage, Amanda Setili provides a practical guide for how any organization—large or small, high–tech or no–tech, local or global—can read the winds of change and jump on new opportunities as they emerge. The Agility Advantage is a critical read and should be added to your business book collection this year.” —Hala Moddelmog, president and CEO, Metro Atlanta Chamber, and former president, Arby’s “Kabbage disrupts financial services by leveraging big data to serve customers that traditional banks cannot. We’ve recently started partnering with the very institutions we sought to disrupt. When I first heard about Amanda Setili’s book, I figured it would be the ammunition I needed to convince larger companies to quickly deploy our platform so that they can effectively serve small businesses throughout the world. However, not only have these strategies helped in advancing our activities with partners, we’ve also been able to capitalize on them to accelerate our own growth and effectiveness. The Agility Advantage is remarkable.” —Rob Frohwein, CEO, Kabbage