The Project Management Institute (PMI) Agile Alliance has launched the Manifesto for Enterprise Agility, a framework aimed at helping organisations respond faster to disruption and change.
The manifesto, unveiled in Nairobi, provides guidance for leaders on aligning strategy, governance, and organisational culture to improve execution and adaptability.
According to PMI research, 93% of senior executives say they must rethink their operating models at least every five years, while 65% do so every two years or faster. Despite recognising the importance of enterprise agility, about 65% of organisations have implemented it only partially or not at all.
George Asamani, PMI Sub-Saharan Africa Managing Director, said: “Most organisations don’t struggle with strategy; they struggle with turning strategy into coordinated action. Enterprise agility is about building organisations that can adapt quickly without losing alignment.”
The manifesto moves beyond traditional agile approaches by focusing on the entire organisation rather than individual teams or projects. It emphasises leadership behaviour, flexible governance, adaptive planning, and human-centric leadership.
It is anchored on four values:
- Clear purpose realised through adaptive planning
- Shared enterprise outcomes over siloed metrics
- Continuous reinvention over maintaining the status quo
- Human-centric leadership focused on trust, learning, and resilience
Global business leaders have endorsed the manifesto. Greg Beato, co-author of Superagency, said agile thinking must be applied across organisations, while Kevin Nolan, CEO of GE Appliances, warned that companies slow to adopt agility risk falling behind. Sagar Kochhar, co-founder of Rebel Foods, emphasised that enterprise agility is primarily about leadership mindset.
The manifesto is based on surveys of over 700 executives, interviews with 30 C-suite leaders, and input from senior transformation practitioners, highlighting a gap between leadership expectations and organisational reality.
