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Well, I could have also said “Lions or Sloths” or “Eagles or Roosters”, but I’m sure you get the drift. Let’s just stick to Elephants and Mice, for I’m sure, you just don’t look at them as animals but also associate other basic human characteristics with them. Elephant: Wise, Powerful, Genial, Big! and Mice on the other hand: tiny, busy, annoying and unclean?
So, if the association is so stark and its common knowledge to figure out that Elephants do stand apart from Mice, then does it also mean that Mice are non-essential resources in an earthly ecosystem? Does the planet also share the same perception that humans have regarding who out of the two possess a better ‘mindset’?
I’m aware that there exists a thought that it is ludicrous to opine that animals cannot possess a mindset, let alone an Agile Mindset! Before you brand me as an Agile dilettante, let me clear the air by admitting that my intent is to contextualise ‘mindset’ in an Agile environment. Using an Elephant and Mice is with a purpose. A purpose is drawn from an awareness that the human mind demonstrates similar behavioural characteristics that are also displayed by an Elephant or a Mouse. Our mind is an Elephant and a Mouse!
The Elephant and the Mouse are anthropomorphic. Individual human beings establish a set of attitudes that define them and their existence, which denotes the Mindset. Now, the mind assumes this identity, and hence, possibilities of the mind displaying characteristics of an Elephant or a Mouse are quite high.
So which mindset works better? A mindset of an Elephant or the mindset of a Mouse? Which of the two, given an option, should we adopt in an Agile practice? To answer that, let us examine certain enduring realities that we co-exist with:
Adapt or Perish
Earth, for some strange reason, allows creatures to just survive. Either the creature adapts or it perishes. Earth is unforgiving in this regard. She offers resources which she does not deliver at the doorstep, they are meant to be sought after. It is for the animals to seek them out for survival, and in the process, they adapt to Earths policies and procedures. Those that don’t, are unceremoniously obliterated with no sign of remorse. Earth does not adapt; she expects all to adapt to her. Humans have tried to tinker with her, and have consistently paid a heavy price. Hence, Elephants and Mice are equal as far as the question of their survival is in this habitat, they both have submitted to adapt to the changing environments. Both of them have learnt to adapt to the resources bestowed to them and have made the most of them.
Homeostasis
The tendency to maintain harmony and balance between interdependent elements, especially governed by psychological processes is Homeostasis. Everything in the multiverse is in fine balance. One cannot create out of anything and therefore there exist consequences. Consequences, is a manifestation of action, a result from doing or not doing. The mind is defined by these consequences. Be it an Elephant or a Mouse, they both leave an ecological signature on this planet because they are always doing things or avoiding doing things as part of the delicate balance for survival. This is applicable to every single animal. The scheme is to exist in this cosmic balance by either action or reaction till termination. So irrespective if you are an Elephant or a Mouse, you exist and that existence is in a balance outside your cognitive perception.
Most Agile practitioners understand ‘mindset’ and then do the unthinkable. They contextualise their mind. Context is good to simplify and comprehend information. It aids expression and communication. However, context also establishes boundaries. It creates a restriction on free will.
An elephant lives in a context of:
I identify with my heard (dependency in action)
I need to care for my young/ herd until they can be on their own (social responsibility)
I can be tamed by humans (willingness to change)
That rope around my feet holds me down (limiting beliefs)
Anger for me is violence (self-control)
A mouse lives in a context of:
I am myself (freedom of action)
I need to be constantly aware of my surroundings (social and self-awareness)
I shall thrive in numbers (social co-existence)
I won’t be tamed by humans easily (unwilling to change)
I crave for food (instant gratification)
As an Agilist the emphasis is on the “Being’, having a mindset that does not anchor itself to any contextual phenomena. A mind that can be an Elephant and Mouse on free will.
Not many leaders switch effortlessly between an elephant or a mouse in their organizations. Similarly, many Agilists are not as agile as their organization wants them to be. This is the road less taken. An agile mindset does not hold onto barriers. It adapts by choice to achieve the best fit. Agile mindset provokes actions that are indicative of a desire to constantly improve and operate in known and unknown risks. An Agile mindset is not discouraged by failures.
To return to the title of this article, which of these two animals reflect an Agile Mindset?
Well, the answer lies in the fact that these two are the extremities of the mindset spectrum. Both possess agility in their own domains. What is essential is that one needs to harness the elephant and the mouse in oneself and adapt to the situation. The key to mindset is to know when to harness one and exploit the other and never succumb to either at any given point.
Transformation and change are complementary. If you need to achieve lasting change there is a need to doctor inner engineering of people, processes and procedures. And to truly transform from one space of performance to another, needs the acceptance to change, the acceptance to shift status quo.
Agile Transformation demands the necessary components of transformation and change.
To amplify my point; We change our clothes every day. We changed, but we did we transform? Now consider the magic of a uniform (having worn eight different ones in my life in the armed forces). That uniform, when worn, does not only change you, it transforms you into a realm of high performance. Each time I wore my flying overalls, I just didn’t change clothes, I transformed into an asset. An asset of high performance in an extremely volatile environment.
Epistemologically, Change and Transformation in human behaviour exist in as ontological phenomena. One can assign any number of objective metrics to measure Change or Transformation, but the true impact on performance is difficult to extrapolate. This is because humans exist in the realm of cognitive associations. We operate from frames of references. Frames created by conscious and subconscious biases,
Human Cognitive Biases Impact Agile Transformation. Most of the time, Agile Transformation roll out goes off the projected trajectory because metrics supersedes cognitive behaviour. We do not plot the various biases that can surface or exist in the overall transformation strategy.
Any Transformation, more so an Agile Transformation, is people-centric. Therefore, we just cannot afford to ignore the behaviours they would display in the transformation process.
Some of the common biases that influence an Agile Transformation process are generated from Cultural and Social moorings. They are in no way exhaustive, just the tip of the Mindset Iceberg. However, any Agile Coach or Facilitator in an Agile Transformation journey must imbibe awareness on their existence.
The top five Cognitive Biases that exist in an Agile Transformation process are:
Bias #1. The Imposter Syndrome
A bias that is universally in existence, surpassing caste, culture and creed, and the most influential bias that impedes performance. Ever felt you are not that good enough or are not too confident to execute a task although you have all requisite qualifications to do the job well? Well, that is the Imposter Syndrome at work. This bias is defined as a “persistent inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one’s own efforts or skills. People suffering from impostor syndrome may be at increased risk of anxiety”. Agile Transformation projects often hit roadblocks because of the Imposter Syndrome afflicting the team members. It is, therefore, necessary to identify when such biases crop up in the Agile transformation road map.
Bias #2. Kruger Dunning Syndrome
This bias is evident in higher levels of management or by those people who possess definite skill sets. It gets all the more prominent by those with Fixed Mindsets. Notice how professionals who have excelled in a particular field tend to assert their intellectual dominance in other areas where they have little or no prior knowledge? That is the Kruger Dunning Syndrome at work. It is defined as a “cognitive bias in which people assess their cognitive ability as greater than it is. It is related to the cognitive bias of illusory superiority and comes from the inability of people to recognize their lack of ability”. In simple words, people with more knowledge and negligible experience in a particular field tend to assert themselves as ‘experts’ and thereby influence this false perception over people around them.
Noticing the presence of the Kruger Dunning Effect in management during an Agile Transformation is a vital coaching and facilitation skill.
Bias #3. Confirmation Bias
This bias is defined as the “tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories”. Ever noticed how the initial sceptics of the Agile Transformation are eager to press the brakes each time the project encounters a challenge? The ” I told you so” and ” I always knew it” proponents? Well, that is classic Confirmation Bias at play. Confirmation Bias emerges from Comfort Zones. People who are comfortable to operate from the status quo are actually a victim of this bias. It is imperative to identify this bias and address it quickly in order to clear transformation impediments.
Bias #4. Self Fulfilling Prophecy
This bias is double-edged. It can be utilised to either initiate new performance or hamper an existing one. The bias is defined as ” the phenomenon of someone “predicting” or expecting something, and this “prediction” or expectation comes true simply because one believes it will, and their resulting behaviours align to fulfil those beliefs. This suggests peoples’ beliefs influence their actions”. While a Confirmation Bias is about the subjectivity of evidence of action, the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy is about the prediction of actions. Vision statements, Mission Ideals, Performance Road Maps, Manifestos and Promises are all dependent on the prevailing Self-Fulfilling Prophecy that emanates from the stakeholders. Every Agile Transformation Project should be accurately assessed with the prevailing Self-Fulfilling Prophecy that exists in various levels of management. A variance in the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy at any of the levels of functional execution will create a hindrance in the strategic outcomes. A good coach will always have a keen eye on the synchronicity of the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of the various stakeholders in an Agile Transformation process and bring any inconsistency to the table without delay.
Bias #5. Cognitive Dissonance
A bias that emanates from conflict of cognitive learnings. Learnings both from knowledge and experience that are in conflict with existing beliefs and truth sets thereby creating inconsistency in thoughts. It is defined as “the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioural decisions and attitude change.” Cognitive Dissonance is largely an outcome of Nature and Nurture. The environments we grew up in and experienced our learning behaviours from. Notice how issues of racism, sexism, feudalism, caste and religion create discomfort amongst seemingly intellectual professionals? Well, that Cognitive Dissonance at play. A conflict between what I always believed to be the truth and the alternate view that I’m now being presented with. This bias afflicts coaches, facilitators and Agile Transformation initiators too! Therefore, the necessity for express introspection and self-awareness during the entire stretch of the transformation journey by primary stakeholders.
Cognitive Biases are ubiquitous in any environment where there exists a people connect. They are ever-present and a natural human phenomenon that occurs whenever humans interact. It is absolutely vital to be well versed in the existence of such human biases in an organisational context so that they are accurately identified and addressed. Agile Transformations without the element of this viral observation is bound to get grounded. We at Leadership-Tribe are not only aligned but consider it a fundamental prerequisite to educate our clients and transformation stakeholders on the importance of such biases at play. We are also cognizant of the fact that our trainers, coaches and facilitators are also constantly aware of the various biases that creep in during the transformation journey. The biases covered in this article are just a slice of the pie. Connect with us to discover more on the how and why an experiential knowledge of Cognitive Biases augments the successful implementation of an Agile Transformation process. We would love to hear your views and thoughts on this issue.
Training is a vital aspect of professional growth. It is an opportunity to enhance existing skills and knowledge. Training, however, has an inherent limitation. It does not improve competency. Competency is derived from persistent application. Therefore, training without application is an incomplete journey. Professional growth involves sustained improvement in skills, knowledge, and competency.
Most ‘ self-made’ leaders attribute their leadership competence from sheer experience. They have mastered the art of learning from failure and being in constant action. Such leaders derive their skills from what they have been practising, and so, find themselves limited when it comes to breaking into new domains of doing business. It is here that training finds its relevance. Agile leaders especially need to train themselves periodically due to the following merits borne from the environment they work in:
Agile training courses fill the necessary ‘skill gap’ that a leader would like to upgrade upon
Agile training courses are designed to create awareness on the best practices prevalent in the market
Agile training courses facilitate peer to peer interactions
Agile training courses serve as opportunities for deep self-introspection and recalibration of personal and professional milestones
Agile training courses are an excellent medium to invest in networking with like-minded professionals
Agile training courses create possibilities to explore new horizons and discoveries which hitherto were in proverbial blind spots
Agile training courses offer post-training contact programs that allow the application of knowledge into domain-specific performance in action
Agile leaders operate in complex and highly volatile environments. Due to the prevailing importance of human centricity, ‘mindset influence’ is a key factor in which leaders need to constantly hone their skills on. Developing a growth mindset is a function of knowledge, skill, and competency that can be initiated from an Agile training course. The learning objectives of such Agile training courses are so designed that they encourage developing a growth mindset. The links to the learning objectives of the Agile Coaching Track of IC Agile are given below. Feel free to explore and gauge as to how the Agile training courses on Agile Coaching and Agile Facilitation enable impactful training and sustainable training.
ICP-ACC
The course focuses primarily on the mindsets, roles, coaching skills and responsibilities of an Agile Coach, and after successful completion of the course, you will be ICP-ACC certified. You will be able to differentiate between mentoring, facilitating, consulting, teaching and coaching.
Contact us to at [email protected] to know more on our ICP ACC Coachings scheduled in your city
ICP-ATF
The ICAgile Agile Team Facilitation (ICP-ATF) certification focuses primarily on the mindset and role of an agile team facilitator, while also providing group facilitation tools and techniques for effectively designing meetings and workshops that both engage the entire audience and drive towards agreed-upon outcomes.
Contact us at [email protected] to know more on our ICP ATF Coachings scheduled in your city.
The Value of an Agile Training Course
Agile training courses are rich in experiential knowledge. They are not knowledge-centric sessions. A typical Agile training course would have the following design elements factored into it:
Agile training courses are based on the concept of learning, unlearning and relearning
Agile training courses are not theoretical and academic
Agile training courses are more practical in approach and focus more on improving the competence and value addition of participants
Agile training courses are iterative and designed to undergo a review process to incorporate the most relevant skill/knowledge into the sessions
Agile training courses are conducted by highly competent, skilled and experienced trainers who have been through a thorough accreditation process by a central governing body
Agile training courses award certifications from world-renowned and industry-approved accreditation agencies
Agile training courses offered by leading training providers (such as Leadership-Tribe) are so designed that they devote equal time for skill gap realization, brain science-based knowledge and practical exposure to fundamental and key concepts of coaching and facilitation
As mentioned earlier, Agile training courses cover all three domains of sound professional up-gradation i.e., skill, knowledge, and competency. Training institutions such as Leadership Tribe support the development of all three in its contact programs. Agile training courses mustn’t serve as mere certification windows. Such an intent would be grossly unethical and distanced from the core philosophy of Agile principles. Hence, Agile training courses must be of value to its participants. They should expand the competencies of both the trainer and trainee. It is, therefore, absolutely worth periodically investing in an Agile training course, especially so if you are an Agile practitioner. In the next article, we shall examine if it is worth investing time and money in an Agile Certification.
Earlier in my career, I used to hear that the most abused role is a “Scrum Master” and now it is applied to the word “Coach”. How often are Sports Coaches or Agile Coach roles understood well by the team members and sometimes even the coach themselves?
I had a chance to read an excellent book “The Bare Foot Coach” by Paddy Upton on Coaching. I have tried to summarize it over here from the Agile and Coaching perspective.
The book starts by saying – to understand the difference between Facilitating, Coaching, Mentoring and a brief on how coaches could be great servant leaders.
The Indian Cricket team never went to great heights with their previous coach before 2008 as it was more instruction based and probably there were no coaching conversations at all.
Bring in specialization in the team rather than one Coach who plays all the roles of Batting, Bowling, Fielding, Fitness, Mental fitness coaches. Most importantly it’s great to work from BCCI who were convinced of the need of a Mental fitness coach and not just Batting, Bowling Coaches.
What can we learn from this book Bare Foot Coach which can be applied for Agile teams and as an Agile Coach?
Accept Fear and Failure
Failure is temporary
Look at what you can control and what is beyond your control
What actions you took to overcome the failure matter and that should speak not the winning or losing
Embrace the fear, make it your friend
When to Coach and When not to
Coaching Vs Instructing
Get great achievers from other Industry, hear out their stories and leave it to the team to learn lessons they want
As coaches sometimes it is too difficult to draw a line between instructing as by our experience, we might know what to do but allow the team to decide what they need to do as a group.
As an Agile Coach/Agile Values – Take away
Team building sessions
Respect
Allow people to speak at all the levels
Junior most person like Sanju Samson and Senior-most person Praveen Thambe (lesser-known before IPL) both had equal rights to speak and share their knowledge with the team
Did Dravid know well about a cricketer who played for, under 13, 15 or Sanju Samson know better about him as he played or watched the player more than anyone else in the team?
Discipline
As a coach asking powerful questions to Dhoni who decided what should be fine if even one team member come late to the sessions
Team Culture
Win or lose – Music runs in the dressing room
Celebrate the best moments even when the team had lost the match
Sachin’s example of how the state team members had a conversation and how it helped Sachin to be more humble right from the beginning of the career. Even today Sachin or any other great players are remembered how they behave outside the playing field
Build Self Organizing Teams
Team member decides how much hours and what he would be practicing in a day rather than instruction based on a coach. The schedules can be on their own rather than decided by the Coach
Do you know your body well or the Coach? Lovely example on how Harbhajan Singh learned other exercise routine suits him more than running
It is not always winning but how well we played the game
Focus
Plan for readiness 10 months before the world cup. As a team are we ready to win the cup and what actions can be taken on the same
Focus on strength, making it perfect than draining your energy over your weakness
Specific coaching for Virendra Shewag to leave the bouncers which ideally, he would have hooked it for a Six!
Commitment
How each team member committed to giving their best and will be supportive of each other
Everybody gets their time
Dhoni exhibited this in the finals of the World Cup who didn’t have many runs scored in that season till the day came where it mattered the most
Who can forget the famous Helicopter shot to win the Cricket world cup 2011
Courage
Sanju Samson’s courage to attack Dale Steyn by playing a few feet before the crease. It shows the character that he was ready for the big games
Transparency
Create transparency in the team where this was well exhibited during team meetings on why a player is dropped and what is considered for that match. These were discussed right in front of the player than behind them
The lockdown has been a profound realisation of what a VUCA world really is. Teams working on projects have been abruptly disconnected and are now working from home to meet project deadlines. The tempo of doing business and market orientation is now in flux and there exists a level playing field for all. Unexpected events cause unexpected outcomes, and with the corona lockdown, there is a possibility of unprecedented discomfort that shall slowly seep into the minds of people. Teams that have been truly Agile would have adapted to the change and may have figured out ways to overcome challenges. However, it is important to examine the likely dysfunctions that could inflict distributed teams and find ways to prevent undesirable patterns of behaviour emerge.
Having operated in intense VUCA environments with distributed teams spread over a large geographical area during my stint in the Indian Army, I wish to share key issues that need to be addressed to ensure Agile teams remain resilient and productive irrespective of the uncertainties created by the lockdown.
What are your Team members experiencing?
Fear of losing the job?
Fear of the unknown?
Work from home constraints?
Financial stress?
Domestic pressures?
Health-related issues?
What should be done?
The Team leaders need to empathise with the members and figure out ways to channelize the prevailing mindset with two outcomes in mind:
That dysfunctional behaviour does not infect the team during the lockdown period.
That teams are psychologically attuned to resume normal operations once the lockdown period is lifted.
What Can Leaders Do?
Leaders now need to emerge as islands of support, care and courage. Some of the steps that they should be taking on are:
Connect with each member online every day and engage in conversations that are empowering and provide succour
Build trust with each individual by allowing free expression and sharing the pain
Avoid being sympathetic and pitiful
Operate from a mindset of Hope of Success than Fear of Failure
Prevent psychological and physical inertia amongst members
Demonstrate resilience and courage
Establish a sense of purpose and value-based actions
Alter the perceptions of Uncertainty and Fear
Create virtual structures to ensure the Agile Values and Principles are present when teams are working remotely
The above call for emergent leadership, flexibility in thinking and a deep sense of people connect. How do we go about applying the issues above into desirable actions than mere insights? What does it take to be there for your teams despite the pain? Why should Agile teams relook at the Agile Values and Principles in the backdrop of the pandemic? How can Agile teams build reliance and courage to operate in a zone of productivity and purpose while preserving the safety and interests of their loved one?
Would you like to seek possible answers to the questions above? Do you see value in ensuring your teams are safeguarded from dysfunctionality?
