Moving from Fragile to Agile

Over the past weeks I have had a great deal of interaction with leaders and teams in terms of how they are dealing with the impact of COVID 19. It has been a massive ask of leaders and teams, of families and communities.

There have been many challenges. How to get people home safely, how to ensure that they are cared for, how to ensure they are engaged, how the operations or businesses have been wrapped up, cared for/maintained, how they are being prepared for re-opening, how they are being prepared for extended phases of lockdown.

This has not been a gentle change for many people. It has been an enforced turning point. It has tested our ability to adapt, it has challenged us on multiple levels, and it has asked us whether we are agile or truly fragile.

I have interacted with leaders who have been out in the trenches, fighting the battle, getting food to people, dealing with the issues day and night (sometimes they have forgotten to get changed out of their pyjamas or wash. Others have not left their homes, have simply switched to a normal level of hibernation (if there is such a thing), some have been completely absorbed into Microsoft teams, Zoom, Skype, BlueJeans and the list goes on.

Fatigue has overwhelmed many. Sleep cycles have gone out. Diet has gone out. Exercise has gone out. Emotion and reaction have heightened. Cabin fever seems set to be the next pandemic.

Equally, people have also shared how they have come much closer to family. Where people have been stranded, humanity and the power of people has made things possible. Mothers and fathers have realized their roles again. Some parents have actually learned some new things in home schooling and have a greater level of empathy for teachers. Gardeners and helpers have been missed and essential workers have been recognized (way overdue).

Remotely, many nations have either grown closer or more distant in terms of their relationship with the presidents and prime ministers.

This is only the beginning. In the months ahead we will absorb and forget many of these moments. The change will continue. There will be further turning points which disrupt our lives. There will be further crises that present new ways for us to re-imagine ourselves and our survival. There will be many new opportunities.

At the heart of much of the advice I have given has the message of self-care. Rest, sleep, exercise, eat well, do nice things for others, be kind to yourself. Learn something new.

Each of us are leaders. We lead ourselves, our lives, and this concept ripples out to families, groups, communities. The point I have made to many is that you have to be sound and strong as the source of that leadership. The old example of a stone thrown into a pond. The ripples are directly proportional to the size of the stone and intensity of the impact. You can’t lead well if you are weak.

Then equally as important is having empathy for others. A leader I spoke with said something that resonated with me yesterday. He talked about helping people return to work with the most dignity and respect as possible. He shared the good work he and his leaders had done in planning how to bring people back in.

Many leaders by their very nature are control-freaks. They believe in the concept of internal locus of control. COVID 19 has tested our ability to confront and handle situations which we didn’t cause. Learning from this is going to be vital. If we made the mistake of not anticipating this fully or not being prepared enough this time, we need to know that a mistake made twice is a decision. That decision is something we will be judged on in the future.

We need to develop new formulas for winning. News ways of working and interacting going forward. We will need to develop new social norms and ways of treating each other. The future generations will lead us, as they will grow up in a society where social distancing is a good thing. Touch, proximity, closeness will have new definitions and sensations going forward. I fully expect to see a new trend in virtual reality as a result.

Your earning potential is directly proportional to your ability to take control of a situation. The way in which we think, the way in which we process information and the way in which learn and apply knowledge will be the game changer for many.

Will we need offices in the future? Or will we need homes which are more like beehives? Will we live in safer, isolated, yet fully-connected silos and communities? Will we travel in the same way? Insular entertainment versus global travel...

Here are some important approaches going forward to help you move from fragile to agile.

Realize the need to stay interested (not anxious). Stay open to learning.

Recognise that you will go through a range of negative emotions and destabilizing thoughts and responses as you encounter new opportunities. You may not even be up to seeing them. They may be unreal or unknown. You may miss them.

Don’t freak out or get anxious or panic that you may have missed them or will miss them. Open yourself to learning, looking and listening.

Feel free and safe to share that you are uncomfortable, feel free to be completely honest and ask for help. Remember that a person rises to the point in life where they can ask for help. Trust others to help you.

Overcome the silly picture you might have had of being everyone’s hero and having to solve the problems of all around you. Use this as time where they might come to the fore and offer solutions and take responsibility for the success or failure of those solutions they recommend.

Open the door to people contributing and gaining experience and leading with you.

Compromise, sacrifice, and trade-off’s will be vital in the next few years. Be prepared to lose, be prepared to let go of the past and adjust. You need to think bigger, longer term. The scoreboard is not about now, the performance of your team right now will be irrelevant in the future. The trend and recovery line is what will be admired.

I have often said that the past is the past, that nothing ever stays the same. Grieve over it for a few days, celebrate its value, take the good memories with and tackle the future.

Don’t forget your friends, don’t abandon the ecosystem, take them with you, invite them along, look for ways to make collaboration a thing that gets as many of us to win together as possible.

Test where you invest, spend money prudently on a range of R&D activities, learn quickly what works and then get behind that. Make every action and every investment count.

Embrace agility. #1GOAL