Those of you who work in start-up environments probably practice many aspects of agility as second nature. Start-ups can achieve rapid success through their learning-driven, fail-fast, customer-focused mindset and culture. If you work in a more established organisation, however, where this agility is not second nature, then it must be brought about via a transformation. Hayward’s book is a manual for leaders who want to adopt an agile mindset and encourage others (both leaders and employees) to do the same. He provides a structured approach to doing so by giving practical tools and techniques as well as numerous case studies – how both larger start-ups and more traditional enterprises have achieved agility. In this post I’ll talk about some of the things in this book that could be useful in your organisation.
The paradox of enabling whilst disrupting
Hayward talks about this concept at length as one that is particularly difficult for leaders to balance. To enable their teams to be effective, a leader must provide a level of clarity, stability, order and direction. However, to disrupt, they must destabilise this order and question even the most fundamental principles of how things are done within the business.
“Great leaders connect people, customers and nations, and yet they also challenge the status quo, disrupt thinking and break well-established norms” (p.9)
There are several traits of a great agile leader which, Hayward argues, enables them to keep this fine balance.
The traits of an agile leader
Learning Agility is the first trait that Hayward argues is important. This includes having an authentic personal drive to constantly learn and improve, and also creating an environment in which their teams are driven to do the same. Feedback, given to each other, and especially given by the customer, is crucial and should be constantly sought. In agile methods, early customer feedback is prioritised in order to ensure that the most value is being added in the shortest time frame.
Empathy is the second quality important in an agile leader, largely because it helps you to build trust upon which agility relies. This trust is bi-directional: your team must trust that they are free to experiment and be inquisitive without the fear of blame or punishment, and you must trust your team to make important day-to-day decisions that affect the business.
Thoughtful decisiveness is the third quality Hayward mentions. There is a big difference, he warns, between making a decision quickly, and making a sound decision quickly. Agile leaders must be able to balance careful consideration with speed, so as not to hold back progress. It is also important, he notes, to be able to recognise that a decision may have been right a few years ago, but the market has changed and now a different path is favourable. Such changes in direction should not be taken personally by an agile leader.
In our increasingly digital world, it’s no surprise that ‘digital literacy’ is the final quality Hayward discusses. It’s important, he asserts, to embrace the possibilities offered by technology. If you are not strong in the digital space, a ‘digital mentor’ can be a great way to learn more about the digital market and exchange skills and understanding with a colleague.
Techniques for enabling agile in your organisation
There are three key pieces of advice Hayward suggests you adopt in your organisation which can help create an agile working environment. As a leader, he notes that you are the ultimate ‘Product Owner’ – the person who maintains that tight focus on the customer when making every business decision. “Wherever you sit, it is your vision of what you want to accomplish that needs to be clear and well communicated to the people who will do the work” (p.102). It’s important to make sure that you unite your team around a shared sense of purpose and vision, so that they too are making customer-oriented decisions.
The second principle is ‘sticking to the main thing’ – which is to say – focusing on what is most valuable to the customer, rather than being distracted with too many different directions. It’s a principle of agile that multitasking tends to derail efforts and result in less being accomplished. Finally, a ‘passion for simplicity’ is crucial for ensuring that processes and systems are as employee friendly as possible. Focusing on the most simple way to achieve an outcome saves time, Hayward argues, and makes your company a more effective and more pleasant place to work.
Creating a learning culture
As you might know, I am a huge advocate for personal development, both within and without the workplace, so the final element from Hayward’s book that I want to talk about is the importance of creating a learning culture. Learning new things, being curious and experimenting is what drives – not just companies – forwards, but what drives the human race forwards. Without curiosity, prehistoric humans would never have left their caves. Businesses that have built up trust with their customers have more license to partner with them on new experimental methods and practices for delivery, so that they can help the customer stay ahead of the competition too.
As a leader, it’s crucial to encourage trying new things, even if they could end in failure. You can do this by focusing on lessons learned from failure, and prizing these as valuable. It’s also important not to become insular, and to recognise that innovative ideas can be stimulated outside of your organisation. Hayward writes, “One of the most striking contracts I see between leaders in large established organisations and successful entrepreneurs is how the latter are typically more aware of and keen to learn from the outside” (p.161). As an agile leader, it’s great to keep connected to the outside world and the many sources of inspiration that live there.
There are many interesting case studies covered in the book, including Spotify, Haymarket Media Group, Three UK and Shop Direct, so it’s well worth a read. Hayward believes that a united leadership team is fundamental to achieving true agility within your organisation, so it’s useful to benchmark your leaders against his criteria and be honest about whereabouts in the journey you are. Transformations within organisations and within individuals do not happen overnight. In many cases behaviours in both are a result of decades of practice, and it will take time and patience to learn new ways of working.
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