Schlagwort-Archive: Process

BMX – the ideal metaphor for agility

Bicycles are a good example of how everything is becoming more and more fragmented. Here a small change and there a new principle and I already have a recumbent that connects a relaxed seating position with even therapeutic effects, increases safety and lowers the effects of accidents. The so-called track bicycle is designed to turn consistently fast laps – without brakes and gear shift. Due to the support of an electric drive, more and more people have rediscovered the bicycle, the e-bike. The technical possibilities are brought to the limits with the BMX bike – special materials and everything that increases the stability of axles, fork, crank and pedals.
The BMX bike shows its strengths in any terrain, in the city and in the hall. The riders master their bikes in all imaginable situations – halfpipes, stairs, and mountain tops and in the forest. This makes BMX (Bicycle Motocross) the ideal metaphor for agility.

However, the benefits of the BMX bike do not automatically make it the best bike for all applications. The same applies to agility in the company. Agility is hard to get working in the following cases.

  • Governance is binding
    The corset of rules and standards take companies the creative breath away. There is no room for agility, as innumerable external and internal regulations must be followed. The agile employees run the risk to break one or the other law out of ignorance – which of course constitutes misbehavior of the employee. Imagine a BMX rider worrying about compliance – and agility is nipped in the bud.
  • Processes set a stable framework
    The procedures are the determined steps for the most effectual action. Doing the right thing right is the corresponding mantra. After many years, these processes have been buried deep into a company. Always the same procedure can be handled in the shortest possible time with the least effort. Special cases bounce off the crash barriers and are therefore made impossible. Let’s imagine a BMX rider on a highway – and his willingness to bring in agility evaporates.
  • Hierarchs will not let go
    Big companies have a natural tendency to build a hierarchy. The officials receive special privileges – selected rewards and insignia of power (e.g., company cars, assistants, bonuses). They should make decisions, lead others and be responsible for the results. If you leave the task, the authority, and responsibility to the employees, it leads to fear of loss of the bosses, because they do not recognize what would continue to justify their status. Imagine a BMX rider who has to get permission to change direction – and all the manifestations of agility disappear.
  • Micro managers strive for total control
    A more complicated special case are the micro managers, who interpret their task in such a way that they have to influence everything down to the smallest detail (see also here). Cutting a long story short: Imagine the BMX rider with someone who constantly grabs the wheel – and already the agility lies on the ground.
  • Who doesn’t act at all makes no mistakes
    It is clear that the big companies counteract the image of the business servant. The path of least resistance is the result of our natural anxiety that is deeply rooted in our brain stem. There are many arguments to avoid acting and thereby making no mistakes – except perhaps the mistake of doing nothing. If one is then required by superiors to act in a certain way, they have the responsibility. Imagine a BMX rider who is afraid to fall – and immediately any potential for agility freezes.

Bottom line: Of course, everybody wants the autonomous, self-employed, risk-taking employee, who would not be much different than a BMX rider. At the same time, the path in which the riders should move is cemented with regulations. On the flag is written agility. However, the conditions are against this approach. Strict governance limits the leeway. Processes and their IT implementations determine every step. The leaders are not ready to let go and involve themselves at all levels. The employees have found their workaround – around the work. Agility can not function with these conditions. Just as a BMX rider can not act properly in a straitjacket. Since BMX clarifies the boundaries of the entrepreneurial actions of individual employees, BMX is the ideal metaphor for agility.

Where do I want to go?

The longer an enterprise exists, the more with difficult it is to maintain the enthusiasm. An impressive illustration of the direction and the goals produces the necessary energy to keep the momentum during the activity. This is valid for teams and particularly for each person – inclusive oneself. This direction can be more or less extensively prepared as a text, a metaphor or an image. Remember the following visions:

  • … before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth? (J.F. Kennedy)
  • … a computer in each household? (Bill Gates)
  • … ideas worth spreading? (Chris Anderson)

These future pictures from the past are already accomplished. In order to make this happen, it needs many people and much time. The direction becomes tangible by defining the strategy (where you want to go) and motivates the involved people to take part during a longer period.

Strategie03Miss

The following parts provide the comprehensive picture of the future.

  • Vision
    Through the easily conceivable picture of the desired future, the vision, the creativity of the involved people becomes stimulated and creates momentum that prevails for a long time. At best it affects, if it is described in a way, as if it already would be reality.
  • Mission
    The general assignment, the mission, includes the expectations of the decision makers. The mission produces a view of target states similar to the vision. Additionally, it contains the expectations of the leadership team with their assumptions and a consistent explanation, including what should be done, for whom, and what it makes special.
  • Influence factors
    The description of the influence factors (i.e. the critical success factors, the favored value discipline as well as the strengths, the weaknesses, opportunities and risks) shows the involved people the external framework that should be expected during the realization.
  • Strategic direction
    The generally targeted trends create focus for the people involved. It enables them to bring in their competencies. For example, the will to grow or shrink explains additionally, what is intended to be reached, see here.
  • Strategic goals
    The strategic goals are the framework for breaking down the aims. At the same time, it shows a compact overview of the intentions. Make sure that the highest level covers the entire topic.
  • Strategic core
    In the future the core competencies, the core processes and core deliverables become more and more important, since overarching cooperation’s take place more frequently in different constellations (e.g. across locations or enterprises). Clarify the substantial abilities for your deliverables. Limit yourself on those aspects that you actually need for your value creation. Last but not least it is important to assign the products and services that have to be produced to each unit or person.

Bottom line: In times, when everything is possible, it is important to determine your own future. The strategy, described as clear as possible, is the pre-requisite for the ever more frequent cooperation in various groupings. It ensures that all people pull the rope in one direction and at the same time that only a few friction losses arise from conflicts or misunderstandings.

Same series:

Who am I?

What do I do?