Agility…..Ready, Fire, Aim?
Agility…..Ready, Fire, Aim?
I was on a call recently where a colleague talked about her culture being Ready, Fire, Aim and that she loved it. I CRINGED! I thought to myself, “how in the world can anyone work that way?”.
Thinking strategically. Planning for the future. Being prepared. These are things innate to my being (even Gallup StrengthsFinder says so as my top two Strengths are Strategic and Futuristic).
Even prior to this conversation, I was reflecting on how a person can be both strategic and agile. I believe both qualities are crucial for success in business, but in some ways, they feel contradictory. My recent blog post listed Agility as one of the top 5 key qualities leaders need to demonstrate in a post-Covid 19 world. So is agility Ready, Fire, Aim?
I asked colleague of mine, Dr. Jeff Suderman, his thoughts on this topic. His response was brilliant! Agility isn’t Ready, Fire, Aim. It’s still Ready, Aim, Fire, but being able to have multiple pathways or contingency plans, and adjusting quickly. So in a sense, agility has more strategic planning. Maybe its shorter term, like planning for 3 months or 6 months. But it is still intentional about looking at data, consulting with experts, and designing business and people strategies to meet your organization’s needs.
To sum it all up, agility isn’t Ready, Fire, Aim. It’s Ready, Aim Fire, Ready, Aim Fire ….. Ready, Aim Fire …. Or at times it may even be Ready Aim, Ready, Aim, Fire. As quickly as things change, we need to be prepared to step back, look at data, and quickly make decisions to adjust our plans. Upon implementation, we assess the effectiveness of the plan, learn what worked and repeat Ready, Aim, Fire!