When on LinkedIn @ositasap inboxed me about some possible collaboration with a group of Nigerian IT Professionals in Canada NIPCA, I thought he was speaking to the wrong person. Me? How? Collaborate with IT Professionals? What was it on my LinkedIn profile that gave him the impression that I work in IT? Then it came to me! My hashtags! I had included some hashtags in a recent post & erroneously included “Agile Leadership” instead of “Leadership Agility” Oh my! I quickly traced the post, corrected the error & got a clarification note across to him.
So here’s the thing; Agile & Agility mean absolutely different things. How?
Today & in IT, AGILE is a set of PRACTICES, PRINCIPLES & METHODOLOGIES that govern a whole ‘new’ way of working. Notably the need to execute projects in iterations as opposed to a less effective ‘Waterfall’ approach. Agility (as with Business & Leadership Agility) on the other hand, refers to a mindset & an approach to work that allows for resilience, adaptability & responsiveness to the business environment. So you get it? While it is possible to apply AGILE principles without ‘doing’ AGILE, it is not possible to ‘do’ AGILE without being efficiently adaptable.
Generally, we find that Start-ups are more inclined to have agility built into their DNA, not so for existing/legacy corporations & yet not impossible either.
I submit that an understanding of AGILE will create a good foundation for acquiring skills for agility in Enterprise & Leadership.
I did debut my very first Leadership Agility course sometime last year & the response was impressive. I have notified @ositasap that I would be more than willing to collaborate on this one….Lol!
Interestingly, @enmichael shared a short video at an hacking-hr forum on what an AGILE structure & its variants looks like. You may check it out on his profile.
Cheers! to your Business & Leadership Agility in 2020 & beyond.