Most of us wanted 2020 to go away as soon as possible. 2020 will be remembered as an year of catastrophe. We all got affected in some way or the others. Some of us lost our friends, neighbors, family members, acquaintances… Someone whom we knew was gone… It was certainly the most challenging year for the mankind.
However 2020 also taught us one very important aspect of life. And that is to be open to “inspecting and adapting”. This central “agile DNA” of mankind got activated in 2020.
In our personal life, we had to change quite a lot. Wearing masks, social distancing, avoiding crowds, waiting for the next elevator if it’s having 3-4 people already, spending more time with family, finding personal space even with everyone around you, focusing on only the necessities and keeping it simple… And the list goes on……
In our professional life, we had to change the way we work, business models changed, travel stopped, in-person meetings stopped, the meaning of face-to-face changed from being co-located to zoom-face-to-face, the way we looked at data-security changed… And again the list goes on….
Did we all have to “inspect and adapt”? The answer is a big “YES” everywhere.. Are all challenges over as we turn the year from 2020 to 2021? The answer is a big “NO”…
“Being Agile” is now a part of our lives. It’s a central DNA of us as a mankind. As more uncertainties emerge in 2021, we will have to remain on our toes. If we need to change then we need to change…. period….
As professional life unfolds in 2021, we may see a lot of changes in the way people work
- We will start valuing our colleagues more. We will value “individuals and interactions over processes and tools”.
- We will have more openness to change rather than getting stuck to long-term-baselined plans. We will value “Responding to change vs following a plan”.
- We will still believe that “the most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a team will still remain face-to-face conversation”. Most of us did learn over last few years about communicating in-person instead of sending emails. Now, people will even remove the misunderstanding about face to face being the same as co-location. Zoom communications will still be face to face communication.
- We will learn the importance of “trust” when people work remotely. Leadership teams will learn to create environment of support and trust. The importance of “self-organization”, “trust” and “motivation” will increase. The role of a “manager” will slowly change to a “leader” who “enables and serves”.
- “Collaborations” would increase since we would use the online communication channels more effectively rather than waiting to meet someone in person. We will start valuing “Collaborations over contracts”.
- The products that we would develop would be more on the “Inspect and Adapt” concepts. The importance of “working products over comprehensive documentation” would increase.
- We will start focusing on “simplicity”. We have learnt big-time in 2020 that keeping it simple always help. Focus on essentials and not on everything. We could simplify our life so much during the lockdowns.
- And the list goes on…..
Do this not bring the relevance of what those 17 great people wrote in the “Agile Manifesto“?
2020 taught us a lot. 2020 was a learning. Let us take a moment and inspect what we learnt in 2020. Let us use the learning and adapt to the whole new “world of agile“. Happy new year to everyone.