The Agile Mindset in Social Settings - Part I

Having a creative mind, I thought to talk about Agile in a totally different environment some of us may be used to. We tend to talk about Agile in our work environment, whether it's to improve our information technology, to deliver products, to improve processes, or to provide services like healthcare, just to name a few. Since Agile is not a detailed out method for doing something in a particular way (there are in fact various flavors of Agile out there), I thought it can be applied to additional areas than I personally have experienced. So I decided to take a look at how Agile could be applied to the social environment.

The reason I say that

“It’s not prescribed methods that make things work, it’s the people”

(~Gitta Toussi)

is because (as we see also in the work environment) when things don't work out as planned, there is a tendency to blame someone or something. At the end of the day though to make anything work, it's the people - their mindset and behavior! - and the processes therefore just a means...

In our social environment - whether we think of it or not and we may not explicitly talk about or document it, some sort of a process does exist. This in return highlights my opinion that also in a social environment it's not prescribed methods that make things work, it's the people.

With that I am inviting you to a journey with me to explore together

The Healthy Human Behaviors the Agile Mindset, the Manifesto, and the Supporting 12 Principles highlight

As I present my view, please do feel free to think along and form your own opinion.

What I like about Agile is that the Manifesto addresses some social aspects and the basic human rights. It does not look at religion, ethnicity, background, education, status, or gender, to name a few. It just focuses on a key aspect - the people: for them to come together and accomplish something great. It is for this reason I thought how the Agile Mindset can become a catalyst to transform our social environment into something greater than what we already have experienced.

What Healthy Behaviors does the Agile Mindset Foster?

In my opinion a meaningful outcome is important also in a social setting. We tend to be more relaxed in this environment, perhaps to just unwind and of course we want to have some fun to give ourselves time to recharge. From my perspective, socializing is not meant to be just one way as to "what can I get out of it"; rather (just like communication) "what and how do I contribute?"... At the end of the day, if we just go through a habit or motion, what are we really getting out of what we do in this environment? Hence, I thought to raise the status quo of our social interactions. What is our particular focus in this environment? Even if it's already good, can we make it better? Is there a way to add value? If there is more that we could do, how can we as individuals improve so that our socializing is meaningful?

A to me realistic picture of when you make choices is a path with a fork: You can only see so far ahead, you gained experiences from the path you are currently on, and as life has its own natural forks and curves, which route you choose next is up to you.

What I learned from Being Agile is the importance of:

1) Focusing on doing what is of Value

In the business world we talk about the Agile Mindset with the focus on value, and in my opinion you can apply this mindset also to your social network when you interact with people. After all, when having friendships, they are supposed to mean something, or when interacting with family members (e.g. parents, cousins, siblings, children, who do not need to be necessarily blood tied) I would want to make sure that when interacting the contributions are focused on positive outcomes.

2) Embracing Change

From my experience change happens. It's part of life. And at times it happens unannounced. That's also what the Agile Mindset keeps reminding me of. Change doesn't happen just in the work environment, but also in the social setting. You meet people and you lose some; people may accompany each other on their journey for a while, and at some point may depart to go their own ways and... that is ok, as that's all part of life.

For example, we may have lived with our parents, but as we grew up, our journey changed and a number of us don't live with them any more.

That's because change is a natural phenomena in life, and as we can see throughout history, regardless of the speed of change "it is built into our DNA to be adaptable to healthier outcomes" (~Gitta Toussi).

3) Making Conscientious Decisions

The Agile Mindset is not just about being quick or adapting quickly to change. What I have learned from Agile is to be aware of your options and make a conscientious decision instead of just reacting to a situation so that you are better prepared and proactive in moving forward with the choice of either continuing the same way or changing direction which is of value for you to take on. This is achieved by trying to be as objective as possible, being open-minded, understanding that there is no such thing as choice without assumptions or risks, and looking at options before you proceed with any next action.

Looking at multiple options does not imply compromising your own values; what I came to understand is that there are multiple options available while keeping your core values intact. This leads to the question do you inspect your own core values? Are they still applicable at your current growth stage now that you know more? Do you know how to select your core values and live up to them? How do you choose and prioritize them? While asking all these questions, do you see how important it is to make conscientious decisions even when choosing and prioritizing your core values?

While exploring your options to make conscientious decisions, one important aspect to keep in mind is to avoid "spinning your wheels" by getting into analysis paralysis which puts you at risk of losing your momentum, feeding into fear, or even creating for yourself a "no way out" scenario. The mindset that at any point of time and in any circumstance you do have options while keeping your prioritized core values intact can be applied to both your business and personal relationships.

For example, in the social setting, you may be under peer or social pressure and fitting in may be at that point important to you - and yes, this can happen throughout any phase in your life! So you may think you need to behave a certain way or do certain things to be accepted by the people around you. You may be afraid to be transparent about who you really are because you may think that if you do so, you may lose your social contact with them or they may not respect you for the authentic person you are. If you have spent time on self-discovering what your true core values are and know the choices you have before you take any action, then you are making a conscientious decision instead of reactively doing or saying something or behaving in a particular way that ends up in self-denial or hurting you in the long run.

4) Being aware that Your Understanding is Based on What You Know

Whatever you know, however you absorb it, and whatever your prioritized values are, those are driving factors of how your behavior is triggered. Information is the input which you process and your behavior is the output.

At times our behaviors are reactive and other times they are conscientious; every output of ours does contribute to an outcome which not always we can foresee accurately, but hope for positive impact. Yet whether you realize it or not, you do make day-to-day decisions based on your understanding, which in turn is based on what you know.

5) Recognizing that You are only as Adaptable as you put Effort into

In my agile coaching learning journey, I found out that every person has their own tempo to adapt. I also understood that people are only as adaptable as they put effort into. So, it's not just about having the mindset "yes, I want to transform or change", but you have to put an effort to do so. Having the mindset itself is just the beginning, acting like a catalyst; but to do the effort itself is yet another thing.

I hope this introduction served as an inspiration or a reminder while you shape and form your unique journey.