applying agility for yourself and your organization october 2014 learning agility in action
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Applying Agility for Yourself and Your Organization October 2014
Learning Agility in Action
• Globalization
Factors of today’s business landscape
Marketplace Disruptions
Technology
M&A / Restructuring /
Spin Offs
Flatter and Leaner
Innovation and Changing Strategies
Globalization
Change
Executing business strategies in today’s VUCA world is challenging
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” - Charles Darwin
Growth in New and Emerging
MarketsInnovation
Mergers & Acquisitions
Customer Loyalty
Consolidation and
Restructuring
To grow and compete in a VUCA world
• Today’s leading organizations are generally nimble, constantly embracing change and correctly aligning their people to critical business strategies.
These organizations focus on thePillars for Growth:• Talent• Culture• Agility
Why learning agility matters to business
performance
• Companies with greatest rates of highly learning agile executives produced 25% higher profit margins compared with peer companies.
Korn Ferry 2013
Learning agility is the ability and
willingness to learn from experience,
and subsequently apply that learning to perform
successfully under new or first-time
conditions.
Learningagility
Learning agility factors
Mental
Are very curious. Get to the root causes. Have a broad perspective. Find parallels and contrasts. Question conventional wisdom. Find solutions to tough problems.
agilityThose with this type of
People
agility...Those with this type of
Understand others.Are skilled communicators.
Enjoy helping others succeed.Are comfortable with diversity.
Handle conflict constructively.Use others effectively.
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Change
Enjoy tinkering with things. Often introduce new perspectives. Strive for continuous improvement. Can take the heat and pressure of change. Understand impact of change and how to manage it.
agility...Those with this type of
Results
Build high-performing teams. Are very flexible and adaptable. Perform well in first-time situations. Driven by challenge. Accomplish things against the odds.
agility...Those with this type of
Self-Awareness
agility...Those with this type of
Actively seeks feedback. Tend to be self-reflective. Is candid to a fault about self. Sensitive to their impact on others. Know personal strengths and weaknesses. Take corrective action based on feedback
self
Question
1. Drawing insights from past experiences2. Being intelligent3. Examining problems from different angles4. Seeking out diverse experiences5. Performing well in unfamiliar situations
Of the choices below, which is not related to Learning Agility:
Matching Talent to OpportunityIf the position ...Is new
Requires fresh ideas and new ways of thinking
Is in a quickly changing field or area of business where the future is undefined or emerging
Needs major fixing
Requires strategic thinking and/or strategy development
Is supported by strong technical help
Requires political savvy
Is change-driven
… Good fit for a highly agile candidate.
Matching Talent to OpportunityIf the position...Requires considerable in-field experience or depth of knowledge
Is relatively stable
Requires understanding of the past in order to address future situations
Needs strong and decisive tactical skills
Involves the major development and/or mentoring of others
Is relationship-driven or depends on continuity
… good fit for a high-professional candidate.
Self Activity How much of your role is dependent on each of the five factors
on a scale from 1 to 5 (1 – the least, 5 – the most)?
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5
• Embraces uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity
• Resourceful, risk taking, bored with routine
• View the big picture
The Learning Agility ContinuumBOTH can be:•Engaged and passionate about the job •Understand key strengths and weaknesses•Deliver performance results •Continue developing skills •Interested in learning •Focused on growing a career
BreadthBreadth• Diligent,
determined, perseveres at learning,
• Embraces structure, quality, consistency
• Follows procedure, policies, norms
• Enhances and deepens expertise
DepthDepth
70-20-10 Model of Learning Development
7070%%
2020%%
1010%%
assignments
people
courses
Define Opportunities: Develop Yourself
• How can I apply what I have learned about myself from the reports to my role in organization?
• Are there patterns in what I fail to learn? • What impact does Learning Agility have on how I work?• What are my career aspirations that require more Learning
Agility and in what areas? • If I want to enhance my Learning Agility, what should be
different?
Define Opportunities: Develop Yourself
• How can I apply what I have learned about myself from the reports to my role in organization?
• Are there patterns in what I fail to learn? • What impact does Learning Agility have on how I work?• What are my career aspirations that require more Learning
Agility and in what areas? • If I want to enhance my Learning Agility, what should be
different?
How to Get a Job at Google,; 2/22/14: “…For every job, though, the No. 1 thing we look for is general cognitive ability, and it’s not I.Q. It’s learning ability. It’s the ability to process on the fly. It’s the ability to pull together disparate bits of information.”
Learn, Unlearn and Relearn: How to Stay Current and Get Ahead 2/3/14: “Learning agility is the name of the game. Where the rules are changing fast, your ability to be agile in letting go of old rules and learning new ones is increasingly important. Learning agility is the key to unlocking your change proficiency and succeeding in an uncertain, unpredictable and constantly evolving environment, both personally and professionally.”
Agility is key Without it, the right strategy and culture won’t matter.
Enterprise Agility- The ability of an organization to perform in new, ambiguous situations by learning and adapting when confronted with unforeseen circumstances, dilemmas, crises, and complex problems.
• Workforce agility
• Cultural agility
Enterprise agility is key Enterprise agility: Enterprise agility is the ability to drive sustainable growth in a complex, ambiguous business environment by continuously learning and adapting when faced with tough, uncertain conditions, dilemmas, crises, and complex problems. The agility of an enterprise’s workforce is measured through learning agility.
How learning agile is my organization overall?
How agile does my organization need to be given the business strategy we are pursuing?
Where in my organization do I need agility the most, and what kinds of agility?
Burning platform questions.
Self Activity How much of your organization’s strategy is dependent on each
of the five factors on a scale from 1 to 5 (1 – the least, 5 – the most)?
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5
Table/Discussion Activity In which roles/jobs in your organization does Learning Agility
really matter ? What % of jobs?
Organizations agree… identifying high-potential employees is important, yet only 9% said they had a systematic process in
place to identify them. UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School Study
Differentiating Talent
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The “Strategic Few”
Potential
Deep Experts
The Pipeline
Per
form
anc
e
High Professional
Key Performer
High Professional + Utility Player
Identified Potential
Emerging Potential
Diamond in the Rough
Solid Professional
Solution: Enterprise agility• An approach to assess your organization’s ability to adapt, change and win
in a competitive market and drive value to shareholders and customers by measuring the aggregate learning agility of its people.
• A pragmatic solution to prioritize actions to get the right agility, in the right places, at the right time.
• Benchmarking and analytics based on 20+ years of normative data that allow you to compare your organization’s enterprise agility with those of high performers in your competitive market.
• Visibility AND Action
• A thorough understanding of what kinds of agility are needed to compete and win in your market, and how you currently stack up.
• Actionable insights and an agility roadmap to help you close gaps, and development content to improve agility at the individual level.
What makes this unique?
What is it?
What are the benefits?
Enterprise agility: typical process
• Define business strategies, identify critical roles, scope agility for enterprise project.
• Administer agility assessments.
• Conduct further fact finding.
• Aggregate analysis of assessment results.
• Interpret aggregate agility data analysis.
• Define priorities for Buying, Building or Deploying agile talent.
• Internal change management.
• Create agility roadmap.
• Conduct internal stakeholder meetings.
Audit/ analyze Synthesize Align/planDiscover
Outcome: Prioritizing the key efforts to ensure the right talent in the right roles at the right times.
Different Strategies require a different mix of Agility
Having the right strategic mix of Agility will build an enterprise
that is successful at beating the
competition and driving growth in
complex, ever-changing
environments
Strategic fit illustration• Strategic fit index for innovation
and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) strategies.
Learning agility profiles for companies pursuing:
• Innovation - need talent with high levels of Mental and Change Agility.
• M&A - need talent with high levels of Change and People Agility.
Strategy: innovation •
A large telecommunications company headquartered in the Asia-Pacific rim:
• Innovation is critical to their success.• Innovation is also a key focus for the
organization.• Several initiatives to build up its
innovation.
• The innovation profile specifically leverages the areas of Mental and Change Agility.
Enterprise agility diagnostic
How agile are we? Which areas are critical to our strategy?
How ready are we?
Overall strategic fit Strategy ReadinessFactors results and importance to strategies
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Team developmentWhat individuals are doing to grow capacity in their teams:•Collaboration•Systems thinking •Value diverse perspectives•Driving results
Skill building Developing learning agility:•Present new learning experiences to address complex challenges•Provide opportunities to reflect and make sense of new experiences•Find ways to incorporate new skills sets into daily work
The three phase journey in agility
Learning agility
Developing capacity for agility
Leadership agility
Enabling the enterprise Broader actions leaders take to embed agility as an enabler:•Define what agility looks like in business/strategy•Socialize new thinking •Create learning environment•Reinforce/reward agility in action•Build stakeholder coalitions for success
Enterprise agility
Overall strategic fit
IdentifyAssess
internal and external talent
to identify learning agility for promotion and selection
BuildDevelop
Learning Agility and critical
skills through 70:20:10 approach
DeployMatch talent to assignments to mitigate risk in
key jobs and hone Learning
Agility
Secure and Sustain a
Strong Bench
Key Elements of an Effective Learning Agility Strategy
Embed Learning Agility into DNA of Your Organization
Identify the right talent.
Develop a learning culture.
Embed learning agility into succession planning.
Incorporate it in your selection process.
Engage the high potentials.
Differentiate development.
