In my last entrepreneurial article, I tried to describe what qualities a truly good manager should have. And I demanded that acting and deciding agile is one of those qualities.
But what exactly is the meaning of agile? Let me start by defining the opposite (dogmatic?).
I always witness non-agile decisions where decision makers think they alone own the truth and accordingly copy the world and the constructs of their social system unconditionally and without questions. In other words, these persons have a personal and systemic “structure of prejudices” which has never been subjected to criticism. If this structure of prejudices is what all considerations are based on and if then imperative decisions are developed from it through dominant logic, you mostly get stupid actions with detrimental consequences.
The reason for this is simple: the world ticks differently from what you think. If what is allegedly certain is not questioned, if emotional influences and your own empathic acceptance of other opinions is not permitted and if warnings are considered uncomfortable or being suppressed or ignored, then this is what happens: “ethics of responsibility” become “ethics of duty”, where all behaviour is justified with loyalty towards the system – even if it is detrimental to the people.
As opposed to this, being agile means that you always ask questions such as “how do you know this?” or “how do you know that this is correct?” both of yourself (!) and others – and perhaps not to avoid unpleasant replies. In other words, you have to be immune against “this is what everybody does” and “well, this is how it has always been”; instead, you have to try and compare your own constructs with those of other persons and, where possible, validate them against reality.
As I see it, this is the most important requirement for being an agile manager.
RMD
(Translated by EG)
P.S.
For all the articles of my entrepreneurial diary, click here: Drehscheibe!
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