The Asset Journal

The Asset Journal, Volume 18, Issue 3

The overarching theme for this edition of “The Asset” is ‘Agile Asset Management’. I don’t know about you, but often I think that ‘agile’ and management do not really go together. While we often experience change in an organisation, resulting in many diverse outcomes affecting people in different ways, can we call this agile Management? Literature by and large refers to agile in the context of Project Management. And that makes sense as in Projects there is no other constant but change. The Project Manager then adjusts whatever is required to meet his original commitment to ‘on time’, ‘on budget’ and in ‘quality’.

The agility we experience from time to time in Business often relate to a positioning for competition, reacting to stakeholder needs or global markets, or political or societal sentiments. Peter Drucker in his ‘Management Bible’ infers that due to mostly technological changes, Management is required to display ‘a high order of literacy’ to have a solid foundation to work with and from. That consequently leads us to the need for decision making frameworks and rule sets. Those rules however cannot be rigid, they must allow for flexibility, or even agility.  This then brings us closer to relating to today’s desire to know and understand. But are ’agile dashboards’ giving us the knowledge gained through the analyses of vast amounts of data that are these days available to us?

Asset Management requires establishment of strategic direction, decision management, forecasting capability among many other qualities and competencies that enable a well performing Asset base with which to deliver the business outcomes. And it most likely requires Leadership that continuously asks, “What is right”? This may ultimately point to the possibility to extend agile to Asset Management. When I reflect on recent involvements with clients, I am often asked how to keep an Asset Management Plan flexible as of course unexpected situations occur every day in Industry. Without expanding on solutions, I think a vital role is played by communications – honest communication across all levels in the organisation retaining personal and message integrity. This communication should be backed up by verifiable data sets of high integrity.

But I believe that it also requires someone at the Business Leadership level to keep an eye out for the integrity associated with maintaining the Business direction despite some differences in anticipated activities and results. Perhaps agility can be derived from this line of communication leading to informed decision making? I think in the application of agility to Asset Management, we can achieve greater Business performance when we align the many diverse and at times opposing activities that constitute Asset Management. After all I believe that key elements of agile are inherent in the concepts of Asset Management.

We would be happy to receive your views on this not so well established idea of agile Asset Management. And perhaps there are some ideas you can gain from the articles in this edition of “The Asset”? As always, your feedback is welcome, and you can of course also ask your local Asset Management Council Chapter to explore this topic further.

theasset@amcouncil.com.au