Foresight-Informed Agile For Resilient Product Strategy
Improving the Strategic Resilience of Agile Software Organizations in Ontario Canada

Co-authors: Caitlin Pannell-Evans, Eugene Peng

Agile is today’s dominant operational framework in software product development due to its effectiveness at helping teams overcome dynamic and uncertain conditions. As external uncertainties increase, some organizations are also adopting Agile as a strategic approach. However, we hypothesize that while Agile contributes to adaptability, it is insufficient for an organization to be resilient against major disruptions.

This research project studies the relationship between Agile software development and the strategic resilience of small-to-medium-sized organizations in Ontario, Canada. Using a mix of surveys and interviews with product leaders, we found that many teams’ strategic capability to be resilient is limited due to Agile’s narrow attention and short-term focus, encouraging teams to be reactive rather than proactive.

We designed the Resilient Product Strategy Toolkit, which integrates proven Strategic Foresight practices with existing Agile and product management processes to help teams broaden their attention and increase their capability to manage uncertainty. This research design contributes to the plausibility of combining Agile and Strategic Foresight as an ambidextrous approach to enhance an organization’s strategic resilience.