19 Sep AGILITY VS RAPIDITY
By: Mario Serracín
In sports it is said that speed is the result of the application of an explosive force to a specific movement or technique. Instead, agility is the ability that enables individuals to decelerate quickly and efficiently, change direction, and accelerate rapidly to react appropriately to relevant activity cues.
We know that, both in our personal and professional lives, when defining a new goal or objective, we first define the scope or the steps to follow, the time it will take to achieve it and also the budget . And of course, the challenge is to reach the goal in the shortest time and budget. This sounds very good in theory, but in the practice we are aware that almost every project undergoes changes during its development, new needs or points of view arise from the sponsors or stakeholders of the projects; even when we reach the post-evaluation stage of the project, we understand that the requirements gathering was not correct or that the leadership or communication between the team was not the adequate.
We are at the key moment to begin to see the world from a new perspective, a new one where the only constant is change. Companies change, people change, needs change, and as we saw during this year 2020, the world can change in the blink of an eye, therefore, the new challenge for our leaders or project managers is not to have projects that meet the defined time, cost and scope, but be agile enough, have an autonomous team, empowered and committed to its results to be able to respond to the needs of the business and innovation areas.
Let us talk about some of the benefits of adopting an agile culture:
- Motivated employees lead to better results.
- Increases autonomy, communication, and transparency among the team.
- Risks of increased costs and time due to review meetings are reduced.
- Teamwork can be carried out in optimal times since formal hierarchies are not used.
- A better customer experience is allowed through quick feedback.
- Quality products and services can be delivered during sprints with rapid response to change.
- Deliverables of value are provided by direct knowledge of the need and customers.
In conclusion, agility is not the same as speed.
To be fast is to reach the goal, no matter how or at the cost of what, if it is done in the shortest possible time; On the other hand, being agile allows you to quantify your performance based on speed, quality and response to changes during your projects or execution of your objectives.
And as Darwin says: “The species that survive are not the strongest or the most intelligent, but those that adapt best to change.”