Mature organisations needs mature people
How to make agile, teal, holacracy or any other new framework really happen?
For such a mature organisation, mature people are needed.
People who are able to lead themselves, who are able to fulfil their role without having a line manager to tell them what to do.
The point is, our education system rarely prepares people for that. It prepares to execute and to seek to become a manager to give order to others, this is where the circle closes.
So probably we need now more people with a mature personality as currently available. But the good news is, people can develop and maturity can increase.
Beside increasing our skillset by studying certain qualification we can increase our mindset by studying how our mind works.
Our mindset is our configuration, means it determines how we use our skillset. It makes a different based on which beliefs, with which intention and motivation you are approaching e.g. your role as a scrum master.
The way to improve your mindset is different than improving your skillset.
It is comparable to learning a new language. Because it is about learning „vocabulary“ in the environment of mindset it is learning how our mind works, and training, training, training. So more than a two days workshop is needed.
It is a systematic process that takes at least three to six month. It is worth the time it takes. Gaining awareness about how your mind works and train day by day in the „mental gym“ will deliver you consistent and sustainable results.
Imagine what a difference it makes if you are part of a self-leading team with people who are excellent self leaders with a mature mindset and attitude. Or if you are part of a self-leading team with less mature people who are not connected to the over all vision, goal and why?
The difference is huge with all concerns. With the concern of pure results as well with the concern of enjoying your life and work.
I do love the approach by Fréderic Laloux. If a CEO is calling him for advice, his first question is always WHY do you want to transform.
He even send them back for one year to think about it and to exchange with other peers. This is wonderful, because this gives best possibility that at the end there is a crystal clear WHY.
Clarity is very valuable.
But not always we have enough time or want to invest such a long period. So there are additional ways to gain clarity .
Once the decision is done and the suitable framework is chosen it is about living the new framework which has be done by people. Every strategy, every company has to be lived by people.
Due to the conversation and observation I held with executives almost every standard framework is modified to the individual needs. Which is already quite agile.
It is important to understand, that it is not about judging it is about observing.
But still you can find statements that 25% of companies are going successfully agile. The others are not.
Why do just 25% are doing successfully and the rest struggles?
Is the reason in the system?
Does it make sense to optimise once again the framework? May be, but I do not think so.
I invite you to open your mind and to think more integral.
Every strategy, every org chart has to be fulfilled by people.
Not only fulfilled it has to be lived by them.
Who if not Ken Wilber could deliver a better model to take an integral look at agile implementation?
His approach of „AQAL“ (all quadrants all levels) suits just great here. All the efforts that are done to increase the strategy and organisation represents the Quadrant down right so called „ITS“ It is about the system. All the details describing the current situation are representing the upper right quadrant the „IT“ the pure facts.
This is also the part of the quadrants who represents the outside of the topic you are considering.
The quadrants on the other side, the left hand side represents the inside view and individual level „ME“ and the relationship, interaction level „We“.
This is the missing point in implementing agile. But a very important one. BY transforming to a new framework almost all efforts are done with regarding to the right side, to the objective and outside one. The other half is delegated to be done by the involved people themselves. This is like playing golf in the mode of „hit and hope“
Understand that to get the best out of any thing off all four quadrants has to be in a balance. To be honest that all four are on a same level will seldom happen and even more seldom last for a longer period of time.
The more important is to constantly work on all four of them.
As mentioned, the way to improve is different for both sides.
This leads to the thesis that you need different tools and probably different teacher to get this done. This is grant to the idea of an integral approach.
I want you to understand, that to make the strategy happen, which is created on the objective side it is important to synchronise the people’s mindset with that strategy to implement it.
As mentioned both sides have to be developed and supported. On the individual level the process can only be done by the individual him/herself. But they can be taught and trained how to do it. This is what mindset training is about.
Learn to understand how our mind works. How to use it, to make things happen and to avoid sabotaging elements and train this capabilities.
Nobody learns this consciously at school.
This is what personal development, personal growth does. Be agile and train your mind.
Stay tuned