We keep hearing that agility, adaptability and resiliency are critical professional skills for leadership and business success. That is true! But when does constant pivoting on strategic priorities, focus and goals become total chaos, causing frustration, misalignment, role confusion, missed outcomes and eventually burnout? Where is the line between agility and chaos, and what role does learning and development play in supporting employees and organizations navigating this thread?
Agility is certainly a key skill for professional success, particularly for those in leadership and organizational development positions. Navigating a seemingly constant state of change from internal and external forces, as well as a continuously shifting landscape of employee needs and business priorities, can feel overwhelming, if not at times exhausting!
The ability to exhibit an agile mindset, whether as a leader or a colleague, helps us to navigate shifts and states of change, stressful times and uncertainty with a more effective outlook. However, as leaders and talent development professionals, we also need to build and strengthen the confidence and competence to better understand when agility is turning into flat-out chaos in our organizations and how we step up and step in to shift the culture.
I’ve observed in recent years a number of senior leaders relying on “we have to be agile!” in communications with their teams and colleagues in an attempt to justify why priorities shift at a rapid pace and why projects and focus areas are halted or spun 180 degrees mid-project.
This is not to say that strategic priorities and goals never change—they can, they do and they should in some cases. In those times where the business case or compliance needs justify a significant shift in priorities and focus areas for teams, it should be explained to those impacted by the shift and clearly communicated when (or if) the team will pick the former priorities back up.
However, simply blurting out the need for employees to demonstrate their ability to work agilely in an organization as a means to justify chaos may do significant harm to your organizational culture, employee engagement and satisfaction. It diminishes their very real and very justified feelings of trying to be effective in an environment of chaos, uncertainty and diminishing accountability and productivity when the work they are focusing on keeps shifting beneath them.
A chaotic work environment may also significantly contribute to employees experiencing higher levels of stress and burnout, and may lead to increased turnover, and can even impact employer reputation.
A recent Forbes article by Jessica Kriegel noted that the more chaos the workforce experiences, the more leaders need to focus on providing what stability they can for their employees instead of digging in their heels to push the narrative that pressure equals results. Kriegel notes that “cultures built on clarity and alignment are resilient. They bend without breaking. They adjust without panicking.”
Agility lends to healthier work environments when we feel confident that we, and those around us on our teams, can and will adapt to changes and shifts when applicable. However, effectively adopting an agile mindset means we don’t abuse the push for agility when the root problem is not an agile approach, but rather, at its core, is a lack of alignment with senior leadership and strategic priorities from the top down.
When we expend tremendous effort to plan, resource and execute on priorities and feel a connection in the day to day tasks to those organizationalwide commitments and suddenly the focus shifts…and then shifts again a few weeks later…and, here comes another shift a month after that…employees lose trust that the organization and its leadership is clear about their work, their mission and the vision of the organization.
I liken agility and chaos to a new roller coaster experience. I used to love the thrill of riding the scariest roller coasters as a kid. As I got older, I still enjoyed the twists and turns, but I noticed that sometimes there were maybe too many surprises during the ride. My head might start to hurt, or my stomach would drop when I thought we were done, and then all of a sudden we lurched forward again.
If you notice your organization moving from agility to chaos, speaking up right away is so important! Having transparent conversations about the impact on the people aspect of the work, as well as the business impact from non-stop shifting of priorities—lost time, productivity, and financial resources—are all part of the conversation. Providing leadership development and support for clear goal setting and justification analysis for when shifting priorities makes sense is also a component of tackling the agility vs chaos debacle so many of us are facing! Even if other departments are still caught in the chaos of constant shifts, what can you control or help other leaders control on your teams regarding your own projects and priorities?
The line between agility and chaos is so similar to the roller coaster analogy. Change and uncertainty can be a positive and even exciting experience, where an agile and adaptable approach will take you far. It is when we bring in too many twists and turns without giving folks time to adapt and understand the why behind the shifts that it can make even the most excited and engaged employee question how effective they can really be if the company they dedicate their time, talent and efforts to isn’t clear about where they are going and how they will get there.
