ARE YOU AGILE ENOUGH?
Change with ease takes agility.
Change, especially constant change, is exhausting and yet it's our new reality. For the past several years we have been waiting for the pandemic to be over, with a focus on resilience to keep going and get us through.
It felt like we were barely holding on as the world shut down around us, making small adjustments to keep things afloat. And just as we got used to the "new normal" of the pandemic, it was back to work, navigating the new hybrid work world.
Then came multiple layoffs across industries leaving us reeling yet again.
Enter AI.
The world and what little job security we may have had once again feels chaotic and uncertain as we are learning how to use and and the impact it has on our work and lives.
CHANGE IS UNCOMFORTABLE
All change comes with the discomfort of not knowing what's going to happen, and yet it's the reality that we must embrace to become more agile.
If we are overwhelmed by fear of failure, fear of appearing incapable and unable, calling ourselves "stupid" for not knowing, we are essentially wasting time solving the wrong problem, arguing why things should stay the same, asking questions about why it has to change.
We are stuck in resistance. The famous pothole.
Yet change has already happened and we might as well adapt, which by the way, is our human super power so we might as well use it.
THIS IS WHERE YOUR MINDSET COMES IN.
If you have a fixed mindset, you will focus on feeling safe by staying the same.
If you have an agile mindset, you will focus on staying safe, by figuring out the steps, habits, strategies that will help you adapt.
If you have a growth mindset, you will focus on staying safe by looking for what you can learn, what's the potential and what's possible with what you are facing right now and wondering how you can change and ask more questions about how to get there.
POWER-PAUSING IS THE KEY TO AGILITY.
Without pausing to think with more clarity, engage with more curiosity, and act with more confidence, it's easy to stay the same because we are running on the automatic mindset that is reacting to the threat of change, instead of pausing to notice, listen, and ask more questions to adapt to the change.
I know it sounds simple and it is, however it's not easy, because under stress we fall back on old habits. That's, for example, why all the promises of the New Year to do things differently and take care of your health better might already have fallen apart.
We over-promise and under-perform because we react to the problem instead of choosing how to respond by aligning with the potential. Slowing down to power-pause equips us with the ability to move with more agility because we've taken time to solve the right problem.
BEING AGILE IS A PRACTICE.
However, being agile is not about making quicker decisions, moving faster, or changing more rapidly. That's the result.
The key to agility is being willing to let go of the plan, the expectations, and the attachment to what could have, would have, or should have been. The willingness to unplan and rethink is not just a strategy for adapting to change; it's a human challenge and a human skill—one we can learn.
In my book, I share the AAA tool, which is how we can learn the skills of agility.
PAUSE TO:
Acknowledge how you think and feel.
Accept the circumstances for what they are, and then
Ask what you need so that you can move towards the goal you are aiming to achieve.
