Agile processes have come a long way. It is now available in various flavors and different names. All promises an organization’s ability to deliver customer value faster while enabling organization to deal with the change. Several successful stories ranging from start up entrepreneurial companies to established large software organization help Agile Processes continue to gain traction.
However key to the success comes down to the people. Agile processes like Scrum are great enabler in tearing down the barriers and bringing cross functional organization closer. But at the end of the day it is about how people approach problem and tackle everyday situation. Individuals with Agile mind tend to accomplish things that otherwise remain unaccomplished. Agile is as much a state of mind and how individuals in an organization approach things as it is about process and structure.
So what makes an Agile mind – beyond the classic chicken and pig story? Here are few characterstics -
- Believe in working as a team and recognizing team success
- Embraces change and focus more on providing solutions to the changing need
- Works relentlessly to remove barriers and getting today’s work done today
- Take individual responsibility and pride in an individual work
- Focuses on big picture and understand customer needs
- Deals with conflict in a positive way
Interestingly as I was searching the Internet on Agile mindset – I stumbled on this link around how agile mindset is applied by the US Army in Iraq. Similar principles in a different setting demonstrating the power of good communication flow and empowered individuals.
