In Savinda Ranathunga’s 2017 TED Talk: Don’t Manage Time, Manage Focus, he tackled the idea of New Years’ Resolutions and why they tend to not come to fruition. Ranathunga explained that when he set the goal of managing his finances it took him significantly longer than a year to achieve this. Similarly, when you set the resolution of quitting smoking, you don’t quit for a year, and then return to the habit. Just like when you strive to get fit, you aspire to keep these new routines in your life after the 31st December.
When I listened to Ranathunga’s talk, it reminded me of the story of the tortoise and the hare; the idea that slow and steady wins the race, and how that can, in fact, be an allegory for how best to create an effective agile transformation at work.
This may sound bizarre, but, say two companies decide on the same date to implement agile practice; one goes racing forward, making drastic changes and leaving the other company in its dust. Eventually, having supposedly implemented the agile strategies, the top brass of the organisation become complacent, and slowly but surely, the old habits come creeping back in, and nothing has actually changed in the end. While the second company, that went through the motions at their own pace, tackling every step of the journey with patience and assurance, would be able to retain the momentum, and truly have implemented an agile practice throughout the organisation. Slow and steady wins the race, slow and steady ensures that every part of the process gets the attention it requires.
Have you worked for organisations that preach agility, and in reality, it is just a buzzword with little substance? It is likely they went through a hare-like transformation as opposed to one which is likened to the tortoise.
Based in London, U.K., and founded in 2016 by Arvind Mishra The Agile Works (www.TheAgileWorks.com), is an up-and-coming recruitment and Agile consulting company. Arvind is a Certified SAFe SPC and regularly delivers both private and public SAFe certification workshops.
He is a design thinking expert, Sr. enterprise, portfolio Agile Coach with over a decade of experience working as an Agile coach in diverse industries such as banking, pharma, retail, auto, oil, gas, consulting and government.
The Agile Works; a small team of three strive to help shape the leadership's mind-set and values in readiness for their business transformation journey challenges. With Arvind at the helm, we strive to provide you with the agility tools to make your company that can thrive, and not just survive.
To book a consultation, or for any enquiries, you can contact Arvind via the following email address: arvind@theagileworks.com
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