**4. The interdependent functions of Innovation and Agility**

Innovation and Agility are driven by a common intent (to facilitate beneficial development) but they have (often implicit) different Theories of Change and, therefore, different practises of action. What is the essence of the difference? It can be understood by considering a thought experiment. Imagine that in a pandemic thousands of additional medical ventilators are needed urgently. If Agility is the Theory of Change adopted then those with entrepreneurial power will provide direction and resources, motivate varied enterprises to engage in design and reward those who produce working prototypes. If Innovation is the Theory of Change adopted then action would be taken to bring together top scientists and engineers, establish a temporary development centre and use skunk-works methods to create new designs for ventilators that could be rapidly manufactured. What can we learn from this thought experiment? It is that the Agility's modality is 'do whatever it takes to get things done' and Innovation's modality is 'do the work to create something new and valuable'. Briefly, Agility's essence is proactive but prudent opportunism (characteristics of entrepreneurship) and Innovation's essence is targeted structured creativity (characteristics of engineering).

This suggests that Innovation and Agility come from different conceptual worlds. Innovation integrates disciplines such as creative design thinking with the rigour of the scientific method and the problem-solving orientation of engineering. Agility draws from a Schumpeterian heritage as it embraces the wiliness of a hunter, the action orientation of a (good) politician, the pragmatism of an army commander and the unreasonable dedication of a serial entrepreneur [43].

Francis [15] summarised the essence of the relationship this way: "Agility and Innovation have a close, but complex relationship, rather like that sometimes seen between brother and sister… Is there a difference between Agility and Innovation? The answer is 'yes', as the nature of work, the driving force and the associated risk profiles, are different for each… Agility and Innovation have different clockspeeds. Innovation requires finding and exploiting new ideas and is frequently

time-consuming, uncertain, expensive and difficult… Agility has a rapid heartbeat. It is rapid, lean and acquisitive… Why is the relationship between Agility and Innovation complex? Many organisations, like the ancient Roman God Janus, must face two ways and be both agile and innovative".
