The problem with "next big business challenge" is that it presupposes that it will be a temporary thing - following the last temporary thing and preceding the next temporary thing. What is often missed (witness the comment that "agility" is vague) is that we are shifting from a focus on the technologies that it brings to the table, toward the things you can do with them to bring you value. This is a too-subtle shift for some to grasp, because they are blinded by the bright lights of technologies or the hype of "next big things" - and so, we keep going round in circles trying to catch our tails. By contrast, ideas like software as a service (SaaS), virtualization, mobile workforce, collaborative communities, IT utilities, service-oriented architecture (SOA) and even Web 2.0 all share at least one common trait - they lead us to center our attention on what we do, who we do it with, and what the value is, instead of the technology that makes it possible. That is the wave of the future. Call it, "we-business" if you need a name. It is about collaboration, it is about information, it is about processes, it is about people, and it is indeed about the effective, efficient use of technology to enable a desired outcome - agility.

Agility is a beneficiary and an enabler of we-business. Agility is about effective response to the need for change. It is not vague. Information must flow; people must strategize, commit and act. When the technology gets out of the way, those things can happen. The sum total of the best technology innovations of the last 20 years is driving this in a major way. That is why markets are changing. That is why business models are changing. That is why people are at the center of it all through process orientation. We-business is the next wave. It is the culmination of what "e-business" was supposed to be. It is the realization that people have been here for centuries and that computing technology is just a "second" on that time scale.

When we recognize that the "next big thing" is actually "making the last three 'next big things' work right," then we will see why agility is critical and why "we-business" will not be temporary.

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Good comments.

There is additional advantage in becoming 'agile'. As the workforce age-difference increases (pensionable ages in Europe going skywards), and the diffence in ways of working (tech-related or not) increasing between the young hires and the mature ones, agility will provide employees the ability to work in their own personal most efficient ways.

Agility will enable the enterprise to follow the next business 'big-thing', but will also achieve something much more funcdamental: getting the best from each individual.

Interesting set of comments, the future of ultimate flexibility and free choice will continue to drive us down the road of one 2 one marketing, therefore ultimately a one 2 one Supply Chain. Thus the future of lean is paramount and the connectedness of Demand Driven Supply Chains is key. What is the connection is the prediction and response to the demand signal itself.

If you have read The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership by J-B Warren Bennis, you will see there are some interesting parallels between leadership thinking and thought leadership.

Key ideas I think are to put off the decision until as late as possible (a postponement strategy), Let others make the decision rather than you (A collaboration strategy), expect new ideas to be in the application of old ideas in new ways (adaptive strategies).

How will we lead, how will we be lead, who and what will be the leading concepts of tomorrow are interesting challenges.

Keep the dialogue going.

In line with David's comments, what strikes me is the commoditization of the supply chain that will lead big business competing with organisations that are agile, have little supply chain legacy and therefore the consumer simply has more choice.

Further to Davids suggestion around agility, there are some interesting observations by Zygmund Bauman's book Liquid Life.

He states,
"In a liquid modern society, individuals achievemnets cannot be solidified into lasting possesions because, in no time, assets turn into liabilities and abilities into disabilities"
The ultimate goal would to be constant delivery and movemnet of product - re-invention based on information back from the community of consumers to add, remove and change seemlessly. The almost instantaneous removal of legacy thought, technology and approach.

Supporting the theory of one-to-one supply chain that David suggested in his comments.