This September, The Open University (OU) is to host an in-person event at its campus, Walton Hall in Milton Keynes, focusing on business agility and the theme of ‘Leading through Complexity’.
The Business Agility Conference UK is a collaboration between the OU, The Business Agility Institute UK and The Cynefin Company. Pre-conference workshops are taking place on 24 September 2024, with conference talks on 25 September.
Liz Moody, Conference Chair and Director of Executive Education in the OU’s Business School, said:
“We are bringing business leaders, practitioners and researchers into the academic space to explore ways of leading through complexity together.”
“Importantly, the conference is an exchange of knowledge between those in the private sector who have been responding to disruption from technical developments, public sector organisations who have faced increasing demand to do ‘more with less’, as well as those who have been researching organisational change in the digital era.”
The conference will see two independent tracks connected by the theme of ‘Leading through Complexity’.
The OU’s track will appeal to managers and leaders of public and private sector organisations and others struggling to balance increasing demands with decreasing spending power. It will use knowledge exchange to answer questions such as ‘What should we be doing differently? and ‘How should we organise to do more with less?’.
The Business Agility Institute UK track is specifically designed for professionals deeply engaged in organisational change, particularly those who have experienced both the challenges and benefits of transformation. It will also offer actionable insights and practical tools for navigating the intricacies of business agility, with a focus on fostering resilient, adaptive organisations.
Giles Lindsay, CEO of the Business Agility Institute UK said:
“Business agility isn’t just about quick adaptation; it’s about strategically aligning every layer of your organisation to respond to change as an opportunity, not a threat.
“At the Business Agility Institute UK, we are committed to equipping leaders with the capabilities and insights necessary to foster environments where innovation thrives and transformation is sustainable. This conference is an event and a catalyst for leaders to elevate their approach to navigating complexity.”
Dave Snowden, Chief Scientific Officer of the Cynefin Company added:
“Business agility is a response to uncertainty, the need to move quickly to respond to threats and seize opportunities. However, this must be data-driven and critically persuasive to conservative and risk-adverse management. If you want people to engage with the unfamiliar, it’s not enough to issue a list of desirable qualities and assume that things will change.
“True agility requires processes and tools that alert people to outliers and weak signals and provide them with intervention methods to gain different perspectives and understanding of complex issues and problems.”
Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with thought leaders and peers, enriching their understanding of how to lead through complexity with agility and foresight. Tickets are still available for the workshops on 24th and conference on 25th.