Creating an Agile Business Environment in a VUCA World

Any successful agile team, business or organisation has 2 major influencers

• How it's governed and managed at the strategic level, how it functions at an operational level , and its relationship with the wider stakeholders and environment in which it operates. 
• A psychologically safe, 'fear or blame-free ' culture that encourages innovation and learning.

To do this it needs a trusted senior team with an agile mindset to create the optimum conditions for organisations to thrive.  

If the organisation wants or NEEDS to become more responsive, agile and productive in the short term, whilst not losing sight of the long-term outcomes, AND consider the impact on the wider world, we may 'need to change the inner place from which we operate' (Dr.Otto Scharmer).  

The way we think (our mindset) impacts what we are able to 'see' around us, our language, attitude to change, decision making and actions. We can be inadvertently limited by our experiences, constraining our thinking and get 'stuck in a loop'. 

This is particularly critical if it occurs in the Senior Team.

If we need to explore both the 'unknown, knowns' AND the 'unknown, unknowns' traditional 'logical' thinking will just not deliver if used on its own.

We need to take new perspectives, enabling and harnessing creative and deeper thinking to tackle the challenging issues of a VUCA environment !!   

• Understand where your organisation is in its Eco-Cycle - is it innovating, scaling up or maybe approaching  'Creative Destruction'?
• Discover your Leading The Way Index
• Explore your Reinvention Readiness Index 
• Know how to create 'psychologically safety' - are people really able to trip and 'fail' openly to develop learning?
• Begin by enhancing the collaborative behaviours and mindsets across the organisation - especially developing more emergent thinking 
• With these stronger interpersonal 'foundation' skills consider introducing design thinking - remembering the first step is empathy!
• Finally be clear where to introduce agile practices to the wider organisation  - it's not going to be 'right' everywhere