As a student in a communist country I was not taught about budgeting - the mysteries of resource management were reserved for a reduced number of people tasked by political leaders with the elaboration of the famous five-year plans.
Even the director boards of the biggest companies were receiving fixed funds, fixed salary levels, and strict limits on import goods. The lead economist of each entity was sending periodically a budget plan to the appropriate ministry or local authority, but he/she received approval only for the amounts of resources considered necessary by the "higher forums".
This enormously long and slow decision loop has created the false perception of economic stability in simple people, and the illusion of infallibility in the dominant class. And the regime was disintegrating slowly but surely, each bad decision contributing to the process.
The poverty produced and/or maintained by inadequate governances is affecting numerous countries, which have never experienced a communist dictatorship. So a low standard of living per se does not seem to lead to the replacement of this particular social contract, rather the incapability of the decision process to operate adaptations to the changing environment.
The agile way of managing resources is giving adequate results in the realm of a globalized market dominated by rapid technical and economical changes. While self-management, and regularly hunting for temporary contracts is a pill hard to swallow for many people grown in a country offering generous financial aids, for billions agile is not a new lifestyle, and in most private companies the manager's role comes together with a money fund for hiring/firing people and purchasing goods, and a calendar with goals to achieve and milestones to add in.
In a fast-paced world the director board is great for defining strategic goals, but excessively controlling the other decision makers would hinder people from adding value to the company's product. It's not a coincidence, that soft skills like team work and good communication are highly appreciated in agile companies, that's the way how they work.
Last but not least, the army for a society is like the immune system for the human body, a necessary evil operating with the best possible technology. That's why OODA was developed by an air force colonel, and it was borrowed by the IT&C industry. When a small team of flying units are patrolling half of Europe, then their mutual respect and trust are making history.
