Rethinking Business Agility: Why Many Organizations Still Prioritize Process Over People
In today's hyper-connected, experience-driven economy, customer expectations are evolving faster than ever. Yet, many organizations continue to operate with rigid, internal-facing processes that prioritize convenience for staff and systems — not the customer. This disconnect is not just inefficient; it’s costly.
A recent PwC report found that 73%
of consumers say customer experience is a key factor in their purchasing
decisions — yet only 49% of U.S. consumers say companies provide a good
customer experience today. Why? Often, it's because organizations are
structured around legacy systems and static processes that resist
change.
This is where the concept of business
agility becomes critical — and not just for tech companies or product
teams.
❗
The Misconception: Agility is Only for Tech
Many business leaders still equate
"agile" with IT or software development. While that’s where it
originated, agility in its true form is a business-wide capability — the
ability to rapidly adapt to market changes, customer needs, and emerging
opportunities with speed and confidence.
According to the Business Agility
Institute, only 4% of organizations have achieved enterprise-wide
agility, while 58% remain in early or fragmented stages. This gap
reflects a lack of strategic focus on agility beyond digital transformation
projects.
🔍 Symptoms of Non-Agile Operations
Organizations that lack agility
often exhibit the following:
- Slow decision-making processes rooted in bureaucracy
- Rigid policies
that force customers to adapt to the business — not the other way around
- Siloed departments
that hinder collaboration and information flow
- Inconsistent service delivery, especially when front-line staff lack empowerment
These symptoms erode customer trust
and loyalty over time — often without immediate visibility to leadership.
✅
A Success Case: ING Bank’s Agile Transformation
One powerful example of agile
transformation comes from ING Bank, headquartered in the Netherlands.
In 2015, ING undertook a company-wide
agile transformation modeled after the success of tech giants like Spotify.
Rather than confining agility to IT, they restructured the entire organization
into cross-functional squads, empowered by clear objectives and
accountability.
The results were impressive:
- Time to market for new products was reduced by 50%
- Employee engagement rose significantly
- Customer satisfaction scores improved, with NPS (Net Promoter Score) increasing in key
markets
What made it work? Leadership
buy-in, a shift in culture, and a willingness to design the organization
around the customer — not internal preferences.
🔄 The Real Opportunity: Rethinking the Service Model
For many organizations today,
there's a real opportunity to rethink how services are designed and
delivered.
Agility means more than speed — it’s
about embedding customer feedback into every layer of the business, iterating
on what works, and empowering teams to respond proactively to
change.
Some practical steps include:
- Mapping customer journeys to uncover friction points
- Eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy in service delivery
- Fostering cross-departmental collaboration
- Incentivizing innovation and experimentation across teams
- Listening closely to real-time feedback — and acting on it
📣 Final Thoughts: It’s Time to Shift the Focus
Agility is not a buzzword — it's a
mindset. Businesses that cling to outdated models may survive in the short
term, but in a world where customer experience is king, only the agile will
thrive.
So the question is this:
Is your organization built for your
own convenience — or your customer’s success?
The future of business belongs to
those who answer with the customer in mind.
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