ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on relevant research material and pulling this material together to inform about ongoing discussions of what agility is and how this relates to command and control. It provides a developing perspective on some of the discussions; more specifically, on what could constitute agility, and what agility may mean in a military command and control setting. The proactive and reactive nature of agility is analogous to a social psychological theme called the agency–structure dualism, where agency theorizes that individuals, or in this case organizations, are agents of their own destiny free from the constraints of structure. A typical contemporary military mission comprises fuzzy goals such as 'establishing peace' as well as a diverse set of antagonists, non-governmental organizations and coalition partners. In wild systems, the desired target state therefore depends heavily on the organization's ability to understand itself and its surroundings, as well as on the ability to articulate this in terms of appropriate actions.
