6 Ways for Entrepreneurs to Increase Agile Thinking

By Taffy Williams

Increasing agile thinking can enhance your chances for success. Success in business often relies on a convergence of events, recognition of them, or taking advantage of fluid situations. Recognizing changing business situations and making adjustments to make the most of them is important. For example, an agile thinking entrepreneur is more likely to recognize if market timings are right for raising capital and finding an ideal investor.

It is possible to capitalize on dramatic changes in sales by recognizing viral growth occurring after a particular marketing campaign or social media mentions from a group of customers praising a product. In another scenario, if a competitor launches their product first, you may need to identify new markets for your product.

The point is that fluidity and lack of certainty exists in business, and agile thinking reduces reaction times to changing situations.

Most people can learn to increase agile thinking without losing the focus required to be successful in business. It is always important to establish a focus and drive to meet a goal. However, entrepreneurs are more likely to be successful when they explore alternative approaches to reaching their goals or learn to pivot quickly and identify better opportunities for their businesses.

There are a few ways to increase your agile thinking skills:

1. Question more.

The status quo often dictates direction or actions. It is common to hear, "We can’t do that because. . ." It is essential to question the status quo and determine for yourself if a common belief is accurate or not. Usually there are alternative ways to achieve whatever is desired, but you must really want to find those ways.

2. Take more than one path.

Alternate paths to achieve a goal will probably increase your chances of reaching your goal with less cost and at a faster pace. If there are any unforeseen circumstances that create a barrier, more than one approach can help speed things along or ensure you reach your goal.

3. Eliminate bureaucracy.

Being in an organization where multiple levels of approval are required to make a decision can be frustrating and it reduces the agile thinking of employees. There may be a need for oversight, but having several people approve any activity will eventually create frustration and slow progress. Why should employees even think if they believe superiors do not encourage thinking or respect them?

4. Embrace failure.

Failure occurs on both small and large levels in business. Perhaps you missed a milestone, a project turns out to be a disaster, or your startup just closed down. Failure happens and it is important to learn from the failure. So, don’t feel depressed for too long, get back to work, and use your new knowledge to succeed next time. That's the true definition of agile thinking.

5. Believe in yourself.

Believing you will fail increases the likelihood that you will fail. When you have that mind-set, you will never seek ways to succeed and you might give up too soon. It is essential to believe in your abilities and believe that you can succeed at anything you do. A great attitude sets the positive framework for the agile thinking required to seek alternatives and better outcomes.

6. Dream big.

One great lesson is that you achieve what you want to achieve. If you choose to create a small business, most likely you will end up there. It may be impossible to see beyond the original dream; however, dreaming that you will create a major enterprise will drive you to find ways to do so. It is important to dream about what you want to accomplish. Don’t limit the scope unless that is what you really want.

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