Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
Flatland
David Schmaltz is a project manager in Takoma Park, Maryland.
Can agile methods and hierarchical organizations find middle ground? Some projects demand peer-to-peer or “horizontal” work, but not all. If agile practices are to flourish, the interface of the horizontal and vertical is critical. It’s one thing to transform a small software team into an agile community, quite another to move a company towards cohesive, innovative performance.
"Iraq is the freest country in the world, but since freedom without order and without law is tantamount to chaos, it is also the most dangerous." Mario Vargas Llosa
The management literature says, “Embrace Agile!” “Get Lean!” What does that mean? On the surface, it means flatter organizations. The hierarchical roles and responsibilities that have been the very foundation of modern organizational life get fuzzed, and the rules of operation shift no less than the metrics judging performance.
Since the Industrial Revolution, organizations have focused attention toward creating engines for success. This focus encouraged a sensitivity to optimizing initial conditions as characterized by defined processes, leading to orderly operations firmly rooted in industrial best practices. The Agile Manifesto and the Lean Revolution propose through-the-looking-glass methods that focus more upon difference than similarity, innovation over imitation, and the …
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"If you can't convince them, confuse them." - Harry S. Truman |