Steve Denning knows a thing or two about management. In a recent article, he talks about the baggage of agile and the critical need to reinvent the very concept of management. He identifies the practices of industrial-era management and labels them as “obsolete”. He goes as far as to say those practices constitute a disease that must be eradicated. In a post-pandemic world, resilience is the new buzzword. Our uncertain times dictated a focus on adaptability years ago – yet it took a pandemic to bring it into leadership consciousness. Eradicating the disease of industrial-era management is therefore long overdue.

Let’s face it. The age of agile has not arrived. The twenty-year effort to persuade large corporations to become Agile enterprises has largely failed.

Steve Denning – Why Agile Needs To Take Over Management Itself

The article provides a set of principles for reconceiving management. The visual below captures the difference between industrial-era management and digital-age management. The article provides deeper perspectives on the topic.