At a point in our conversation, agility became the focal point for Ade (not real name). He works in the fintech space. He seems to have recently caught the bug and would spare no one about his own version of agility in a VUCA world.
I say his own version because it was a depart from what I #thought agility meant. He spoke passionately about this strange concept which for me sounded like nogility. I also suspect that he must have read the book Rework by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson and must have misunderstood the whole concept of rethinking a company’s business model and its attending activities.
Within the scope of work and the extended business space, it will be spot on to maintain that volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity have always been with us. The dimensional change and its attending variables in this time brings the difference. Do you agree with this conclusion of mine?
I say this because, Ade’s continued reference to VUCA makes it feel the world never existed. I believe elements of VUCA was present when Nokia moved from Textile to Mobile Devices. Well, I will be dropping my own buzz phrase here SAS! You will find the meaning at the end of this piece. So sorry for the digression.
I could have taken a bet that the whole concept of agility is all about being nimble, being flexible, being alert and being fast. It is not about doing a way with critical business activities. As a matter of fact, that is the foundation.
To attend to my #curiosity, what is the signal that shows that wanting to be agile is being abused or misunderstood? There are thought spewing out there like Ade’s that professes agility as not practicing or recognizing planning or anything that resembles being deliberate; being intentional and stable. If we talk about competitive advantage, how do you retain such position if your approach does not recognize the need for strategic planning?