The Liquid Organization in an Enterprise Architecture Perspective: From Illusion of Control to Adaptive Configurability

By Morten Elvang, Thinking Twice Works, meg@thinkingtwice.works.

Enterprise Architecture is traditionally focused on defining a target state and transforming towards it - aligning technology with business strategy through structured planning and control.

With unpredictable external events accelerating, long-term blueprints quickly become outdated. Large infrastructure programs often overrun their frames and underdeliver on results.

The distinction between target state and transformation is dissolving as organizations must adapt continuously. Strategy itself is becoming dynamic, and enterprise architectures must keep up.

Tomorrow’s organizations need liquidity - the power and freedom to act at will when conditions change. This demands a shift toward software-configurable and AI-native structures that can reconfigure in real time.

The paradox of infrastructure transformations demanding both structure and flexibility is by definition unsolvable and can be tackled only through an evolutionary approach accepting that the blueprints are changing as they are being delivered. This shift is fundamental and requires adaptive configurability - you need to be able to change the puzzle as you lay down the pieces.

For infrastructure transformations this suggests framing transformation as a series of short-term, winnable missions - enabling adaptive delivery guided by implied strategy as it evolves in response to changing conditions. Managing transformations as a portfolio of winnable missions allows significant risk and opportunity cost reduction.

Source: STRATEGY - A playbook for people dependent on corporate strategy, Morten Elvang, 2025, ISBN 979-8309101108.

Morten Elvang is MSc and PhD from the Technical University of Denmark. He is experienced in helping large teams and organizations get things done. As an industry veteran and former European Lead of Business Agility in a global consulting firm, Morten can help you get a grip on complexity and turn it into something useful for your organization. He is a frequent speaker and a trained facilitator.

www.linkedin.com/in/mortenelvang