Increasing Personal Agility to build the Agile Organization

Change and disruption are now constants in business and necessary for organizations to remain competitive. Unfortunately, people naturally react to change negatively. That said, we each have the power within us to control our attitude and see change as something positive we can use and can develop the skill to embrace change. From this we build an agile organization where constant change is expected and embraced and the business thrives. This ability to work through your own change is now a skill that the highest performing businesses seek in new hires while building the skill in their workforce.

Our personality influences our effectiveness in dealing with change. Self-awareness is key. Building our Emotional Intelligence and our growth mindset boosts our ability to change.?

The meaning that we give to a situation affects how we feel about it, see the situation differently. Think about what you will learn from the change, how this will result in growth. Cognitive change involves reappraising a scenario to change it’s emotional impact. The meaning that we give to a situation affects how we feel about it, see the situation differently. Examples: accept the emotion, knowing it will pass. Reframe and reinterpret events so we look at them positively. There is always more than one way to view an event. Scientists theorize that positivity allows people a broader range of thoughts and behaviors. This helps people build their own social and psychological resources to be more resilient when facing change.

While each of us can work on being more agile, the highest performing organizations are agile organizations with the following characteristics:

·?????? Adaptability – agile organizations prioritize their ability to respond and adapt to changes quickly.

·?????? Customer-centric approach – the organization prioritizes understanding customers, listening to them, and ensuring we meet their needs.

·?????? The workforce has autonomy and empowerment. People own their work and are authorized to make decisions.

·?????? Learning organizations – people are encouraged to continuously learn.

·?????? Innovation is encouraged and mistakes are tolerated because we learn from mistakes.

·?????? People in agile organizations tend to be happier at work which in turn contributes to better performance. “Happiness is the precursor to success not merely the result. Happiness and optimism fuel performance and achievement.” (Shawn Achor, Happiness Advantage)

·?????? Flexibility in planning: Iterative and incremental approach, breaking down into smaller parts, quick wins.

Change ready individuals are self-motivated and feel ownership of the organization’s success. They think and behave like owners of the business – they are entrepreneurs for the business. They are fearless and will work through any pain from change even if it means leaving their comfort zone.

“Your success in life isn't based on your ability to simply change. It is based on your ability to change faster than your competition, customers, and business.”?-Mark Sanborn