The mindset of agility
True agility means focusing on results and requires a clear target state. In this video, you will learn everything you need to know about agility, WHAT and WHY focus, fake agility, the 6-month cycle and structural discipline.
Agility has nothing to do with creative chaos, but describes a mindset for teams and management.
Agility ensures a results-oriented approach. This creates emotional traction. In this video you will learn everything you need to know about:
- WHAT and WHERE focus
- Fake agility
- 6-month cycle
- Structural discipline
Agility is often used as a synonym for creative chaos and presented as the opposite of rigid hierarchical levels. However, this understanding is incorrect and misleads your teams.
True agility means defining a clear target state. This is the prerequisite for your teams to pursue business goals with determination and motivation.
A typical approach in organizations:
Once a goal has been defined, a plan is drawn up to achieve this goal. This approach is not compatible with the concept of agility. The teams get bogged down in working through the plan because the target state is unclear and progress cannot be measured.
WHAT and WHERE focus
Agility means focusing on results, and the important questions are:
What do we want to achieve?
What benefits are associated with this?
What will we have achieved in 6 months’ time and what will be different then?
Which key results will tell us in a short space of time whether we are making progress and approaching the target state?
Agile teams continuously reflect on themselves. This enables them to recognize when it is necessary to take countermeasures. If necessary, they tread a new path instead of remaining on a well-trodden path.
Agile results orientation is given if the following two criteria are fulfilled at the same time:
- Manageability of the timeline (maximum 6 months)
- Focus on the WHAT and the WHY
Fake agility
If only the first but not the second criterion is met, the result is fake agility, i.e. (creative) chaos. If only the second but not the first criterion is met, this is effective project management. If both criteria are not met, it is typical project management.
A typical mistake is to confuse agile results orientation with fake agility. Agility is therefore not associated with a specific organizational form, but describes a mindset in teams and management. Regardless of your organizational structure, agility allows your teams to quickly correct their course if necessary. Agility creates structural discipline.
Progress
