Drawing on themes from Plan to Pivot: Agile Organizational Strategy in an Age of Complexity (2023) and Survival to Success: Leading Small, High-Growth Enterprises (2025), I met with over 30 leaders from the University of Virginia and explored how rapidly the higher education landscape is shifting, and what it now takes to manage complexity and lead effectively.

Higher Ed can no longer operate as the slow-moving organism it once was.

Pressures from technology and AI, globalization, and competition from online and corporate providers demand new approaches to strategic planning, implementation, performance measurement, and reporting.

We focused on Planning, including multivariable modeling and scenario development, and on the power of asymmetric learning – the insights that emerge outside formal planning processes. These informal signals are often where new ideas and opportunities first appear.

An example relevant to this audience came from their colleagues at the Darden School of Business. After months of completing market analysis and focus groups, the Darden School’s Northern Virginia Program committee concluded that expanding the MBA degree offering in the region was the right move. In a smart application of agile principles, they chose to test the market with an initial cohort of 40 students, containing costs and limiting financial risk, and creating space to learn before scaling. The initial cohort sold out in less than a week, confirming strong demand and setting the program in motion. A team of program staff travelled to the new NoVA location to launch the initiative.

Once the Darden team established their program office, they revisited the market research and engaged alumni and partners in the region to discuss the new MBA. Those conversations revealed significant interest in 2nd program: A part time, 12-month Master in Business Analytics. The team explored the logistics and potential benefits of offering that program alongside the MBA. With faculty already traveling from Charlottesville and support staff in place, the expansion was both feasible and efficient, and their instincts proved correct.

By applying agile principles of iteration and experimentation, listening closely to customers, and maintaining readiness to pivot, Darden successfully extended its program portfolio, minimized risk, leveraged existing infrastructure, and added meaningful revenue to the school’s top line.

We then connected planning and management through the Agile Strategic management framework outlined in Plan to Pivot. The group agreed that by applying battle-tested agile practices to both planning and execution, leaders significantly improve their ability to survive and thrive in the evolving world of higher education.

For leaders, the central challenge is deciding where to focus time and attention, how much to invest in strategic initiatives, when and how to drive change, and how to adjust their portfolio of priorities as the world accelerates around them. This is the true intersection of planning and management.