Is your business truly agile and resilient? Are these characteristics embedded in your culture or are they just soundbites? What would your staff say?
The critical importance of agility and resilience in improving business performance is widely recognized. Company leaders from all sectors routinely assert just how resilient and agile their organisations are, but how valid are their claims? Recent research has highlighted a very weak relationship between companies’ public claims on agility and their employees assessment of how agile the company actually is, while the impact of Covid-19 showed major shortcomings in the operational resilience of many organisations. Why is there a disconnect between perception at the top and reality as experienced on the frontline? What can you do about it?
In part it is a problem of same words, different meanings. A dictionary definition of agility is the ability to move nimbly with speed and ease, but from a business perspective it is often equated directly with the implementation of Agile methodologies such as Scrum. This notion is reinforced by KPIs that measure progress by the implementation of these methodologies rather than the desired outcomes of their implementation, such as shortened development timelines or improved productivity. In effect, this is like an athlete judging their running performance by time spent in the gym rather than speed on the track. With this mindset, and the ease with which they can personally get things done because of their seniority, the CEO can convince themselves that they really are leading an agile (or perhaps Agile) organization, but it’s not obvious to their employees. The real indicators of progress are missing on the front line.
It’s a similar story for resilience; the ability to recover from, or adjust easily to, misfortune or change. Is that really true for your business? What about when the completely unexpected happens, for example when you are dependent on a Chinese supply chain that is suddenly shut down? How would your team react to such unusual circumstances? You may have an extensive risk matrix and business continuity plan but, while these are very important enablers, they should not be directly conflated with resilience. Mike Tyson expressed this more directly; ‘Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth‘. Your front line workers have ringside seats, and how they respond is key to your organisation’s resilience when the punches land.
Organisations that are truly agile and resilient have it embedded in a culture than spans the organization from the boardroom to the shop floor. Yes, they invest in enablers like Agile and yes, they do have well-defined risk matrices, but they also have a way of working that you can sense as you sit in meetings or walk the production line. It’s about high levels of engagement across all levels of the business, where ‘starting with why’ is a reality and all staff have decision-making responsibilities that reflect their experience and capabilities. These are key enablers of true agility and strengthened resilience, enabling faster decision making, more rapid responses to changing circumstances, and a significantly improved business performance.
How does your business measure up? The good news is that, whatever your starting point, there are a range of simple measures you can take to start enhancing these critical capabilities today. Contact us at value@catalyticagroup.com to learn more.
