Columnist Jonie Graham Senior Consultant, BRC Partnership Ltd
Agility and the Fallacy of Fences F
rom coding to coaching, programming to project management, agility has become an increasingly valued attribute in the modern workplace and in some cases is even regarded as a necessity. Agility, however, needs to be more than a methodology or a development framework. Agility is required from us in how we lead and develop our teams, how we communicate to our customers and stakeholders, how we react to market trends and uncertainty and how we manage our time and priorities. Whether we lead a team, manage a project, market a product or provide a service, today’s economy demands that we incorporate some aspect of agility into what we do and how we do it. There are a number of images that may come to mind when we think of agility. One thing that comes to my mind is a big cat. Perhaps a lioness engaged in a high-speed chase on the African plains. Her agility is apparent in the dexterity required for the chase, in the balance that aids with the sudden changes of direction, the speed required to react once the pursuit has begun and the strength necessary to bring down the quarry and ensure survival of the pride. The agile professional will do well to reflect the lessons of this example of agility. When we consider the balance of the lioness, even the most casual observer will notice how she uses her tail as a counterbalance. As she veers left her tail swings right; as she negotiates uneven ground her tail is continually compensating for the change of weight distribution through her body. Here we must pause and ask ourselves: in our own desire for agility in our work and practice, who or what is our counterbalance? If we are big-
picture individuals do we have a detail guy who can help us apply the vision to the day to day? If we are those that are empowered by the buzz of having people around us all of the time, who is it that will challenge us to take time for quiet reflection on the wins and losses of the past year? If we thrive on busyness and doing all of the time, when do we take time to recharge our minds, rest our bodies and feed the soul? A counterbalance will always aid our agility. It will keep us fresh for the next challenge, aid our perspective and provide us with the clarity we need in detail and overview. It is difficult to be unimpressed by the level of focus displayed by the hunting feline. She has total clarity of vision, eyes fixed on the target so much so that it appears they are in sync as they twist and turn across the plain. Once again, we reflect. The lesson for us here is focus. How well do we know our environment? How attuned are we to our target market, our customers’ desires or our team’s needs? Agility comes from awareness and awareness comes from our ability to observe, perceive and understand. The agile professional must be a student of their marketplace. To know the coming trends and innovations, to know what’s new and what has had its day. To know who the competition is and what they may do next. They also need to be in touch with the condition and mindset of their team. This means regular check-ins with the team, to be present with them so that when a need arises we are reacting with the synchronicity of the lioness. As I travel from organisation to organisation and speak to various teams in different industries and sectors, regardless of what part of the globe I am in, I hear a similar complaint when
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it comes to that which might frustrate our agility. The complaint is that of bottlenecks or check points, road blocks to success or the timely achievement of a key deliverable. Usually these road blocks are put in place by other functions. Sales teams delayed by the availability of marketing resources, R&D teams limited by budget constraints, productivity hindered by compliance. You get the picture, I’m sure. Of course the natural reaction is to clear the blockage so that the process may be streamlined and the output continue uninterrupted. It may well be the case that some of our red lights don’t need to be there at all, but I would urge caution before we simply push on with the process in the name of agility or seek to dismantle the roadblock before understanding why it’s there in the first place. Agility should be prised as a value in today’s workplace, but not at the expense of wisdom, insight and understanding. Not to the detriment of determination, persistence and the experience brought by existential learning.
“If we thrive on busyness and doing all of the time, when do we take time to recharge our mind, rest our bodies and feed the soul? ”
