• Enterprise Agility requires much more than the 2001 Agile values and principles or some .
  • of the proposals we have seen in the market called business agility. .
  • We have a lot more to talk about such as the three value companies, new behavioral models .
  • for organizations exposed to accelerated change or what we call neuroxprofiles. .
  • This is part of the Enterprise Agility ways of thinking. .
  • These ways of thinking provides the foundation for the organization and includes ways of .
  • working, ways of structuring, ways of responding, ways of interacting and finally ways of thinking. .
  • Today we're going to focus on one of the most important components of Enterprise Agility. .
  • I'm Erich R. Bühler and today I wanted to tell you more about how our ideas are changing .
  • the world of organizations. .
  • Companies today are exposed to much more uncertainty and a greater number of market .
  • disruption that they were 10 or 15 years ago. .
  • This has led to the development of new approaches that allow companies to be more flexible and .
  • resilient when exposed to exponential or accelerated change. .
  • When I started writing my book in 2016, it struck me that none of the existing models .
  • took into account that successful organizations need people who are extremely mentally flexible .
  • and that is an undeniable truth. .
  • No matter how great the framework, techniques or practices a company uses, if people in the .
  • organization are not mentally flexible, they can't quickly adapt to rapid change and that's .
  • going to impact the way obviously that they make decisions. .
  • Being mentally flexible also means that these people can better handle their emotions when .
  • faced with a change or a surprising new situation. .
  • We will talk more about this in following videos about the impact of market disruptions .
  • on cortisol levels in the brain and how that can affect the way we evaluate situations. .
  • We know that the less mentally flexible a person is, the more they are affected by an .
  • unexpected situation. .
  • That also means that it is harder for them to manage their emotions, the less emotional .
  • management you have, the lower the quality of decisions and the fewer perspectives you .
  • will be able to evaluate. .
  • So how can you make sure that your company has more mentally flexible employees? .
  • And if mental agility is ultimately the most important thing, why are not there are framework .
  • or practices that consider increasing mental agility or what science called neuroplasticity .
  • as a critical part of their structures? .
  • From my point of view, companies in which their employees have higher levels of neuroplasticity .
  • will have better conditions to be successful. .
  • Not only will they be able to produce better products, but they would also make better .
  • decisions and achieve higher levels of organizational health. .
  • And this is because the interaction between people will be healthier. .
  • At Enterprise Agility University, we call this concept mental agility and it is a fundamental .
  • part of enterprise agility. .
  • An organization whose employees don't have a high level of mental agility cannot achieve .
  • the three outcomes of enterprise agility. .
  • They are to be always ready, always responsive and always innovative. .
  • So once you understand that mental agility is the foundation of any successful organization, .
  • you need to put them into a model and obviously actionable practices. .
  • Today I want to share with you one of the models I created between 2016 and 2017 that .
  • helped drive sustainable change in many organizations around the world. .
  • This model looks at enterprise agility as five different types of dimensions that are .
  • interwoven. .
  • Most importantly, these five types or dimensions of agility somehow allow you to look at organizations .
  • from different perspectives. .
  • It's like putting on different glasses to see situations. .
  • For example, when you put the mental agility glasses, you will focus on anything that can .
  • increase the neuroplasticity of what we call mental agility. .
  • And obviously that could impact employees and how they adapt to your change initiative. .
  • However, if we talk about, for example, social agility, you will focus on anything that increases .
  • the connection between people so that the flow of information between them can be more .
  • fluid. .
  • You can see that enterprise agility has different types of agility or dimensions. .
  • However, I found that outcomes agility is the one that is harder for people to understand. .
  • Outcomes agility is a very specific dimension which is basically focused on the strategy .
  • and which is explicitly interconnected to leadership. .
  • It's clear that organizations cannot change strategy all the time. .
  • Or at least that is what we believe so far. .
  • In a world where things change every week or every day, leaders must be able to create .
  • strategies in response to those markets and they must be able to realign everyone with .
  • the new strategy. .
  • And this is true even if everything is constantly changing. .
  • Outcomes agility focuses on this constant adaptation of the strategy and its connection .
  • between leadership, tactics and the strategic realignment of the organization with the new .
  • demands of markets. .
  • This makes it possible to create companies that are always ready, always responsive .
  • and always innovative. .
  • And remember again, these are the three outcomes of enterprise agility. .
  • At the bottom is mental agility which supports all the other types of agility. .
  • Usually, organization focus on the top which is where the chocolate is or what we call .
  • technical agility. .
  • Technical agility relates to software oriented frameworks and processes and this is strictly .
  • connected to classic agility. .
  • We saw this in the previous video. .
  • Many times companies focus so much on having that chocolate very soft and appetizing that .
  • they end up burning the base of the cake which is mental agility. .
  • In this video, we will talk about mental agility, what it is, how you can measure it and the .
  • most important thing which is to understand how you can improve mental agility in your .
  • organization. .
  • We will talk about the other dimensions of agility in the following videos and today .
  • I wanted to introduce two of my best friends, Andrew, the Agile coach and Hannah the HR. .
  • They will be helping me to explain the ideas behind mental agility and how to measure it. .
  • Thank you Erich. .
  • I hope you folks enjoy the time with Andrew and me. .
  • We are going to learn great things about mental agility today. .
  • When things are changing exponentially, a new approach is needed to enable people to .
  • deal with new situations comfortably and sustainably. .
  • As Erich explained, enterprise agility has three universal outcomes that enable building .
  • businesses that are always ready, always responsive and always innovative. .
  • Let's learn how mental agility relates to those outcomes and how it can help you. .
  • Mental agility indicates how flexible a person is when faced with new situations, even if .
  • they may cause stress. .
  • A person with a high level of mental agility can evaluate a situation more comprehensively, .
  • even if he or she's under a lot of stress. .
  • This means that he or she's better able to accept and evaluate the facts, perspectives, .
  • emotions and values from the views of the other person or team and feel them as one's .
  • own. .
  • Mental agility refers to reframing challenges to find new solutions even during stressful .
  • times. .
  • We know that when we're stressed, cortisol in the brain increases, which decreases .
  • mental agility. .
  • This causes us to feel less empathy for others or to be unable to put ourselves in the perspective .
  • of the other person. .
  • This puts us in defense instead of cooperation mode. .
  • Imagine an event where two people perceive different facts about the same situation and .
  • also have different perspectives, emotions and personal values. .
  • If these two have low levels of mental agility, it'll be difficult for them to reach agreement .
  • and cooperate. .
  • And that's critical, because with low levels of mental agility, companies deliver less .
  • innovation and business value to the customer, company and workforce well-being. .
  • It also makes it hard for organizations to be always ready, always responsive and always .
  • innovative. .
  • Do you remember the cake where mental agility was at the bottom? .
  • This means that mental agility impacts shared progress and it is the foundation for all .
  • other types of agility. .
  • Whatever happens in your brain will affect how you communicate and connect with others .
  • or social agility. .
  • How flexible you're in adapting and implementing your strategy or outcomes agility, and how .
  • well it's accepted by employees. .
  • Also, how you design the processes and roles to support those people or structural agility. .
  • And how you develop software and products or technical agility. .
  • To measure mental agility, we'll show you a model called the Four Stages of Awareness .
  • of Mental Agility, developed by Erich R. Bühler. .
  • We will help you think about how to create metrics to evaluate levels of mental agility .
  • in your company. .
  • These four stages represent the path people can take when they want to increase their .
  • mental agility and also enables leaders and change consultant to plan for change adaptation, .
  • stress management and resiliency skills. .
  • It also makes us see that we are all similar when we embark on the conscious path to reframing .
  • situations and mental agility. .
  • Higher levels of mental agility is crucial for shared progress. .
  • The higher they're in the model, the more they'll be exercising their mental agility. .
  • For example, a group of individuals who are unable to see facts, perspectives, emotions .
  • or values from another person's or team's point of view is considered the lowest level .
  • of mental agility. .
  • People who are at this stage of their journey may have higher levels of conflict and lower .
  • levels of innovation and value delivered to the client and company. .
  • This in turn leads to lower levels of workforce well-being. .
  • In contrast, an individual or team that can analyze facts from the point of view of another .
  • person or group is more flexible than the former team. .
  • However, it's less flexible than a group that can evaluate facts and perspectives from .
  • another team's point of view. .
  • At the next stage, emotions, people develop a certain degree of empathy for others. .
  • This is an important step because it also means a greater maturity of the person or .
  • group in dealing with emotions. .
  • The highest level of mental agility is reached when people are able to evaluate facts and .
  • perspectives and feel the emotions of others as their own or empathy and temporarily embrace .
  • others' values or reframing. .
  • Keep in mind that if the person feels fear, feels that she's losing prestige or power, .
  • this increases the cortisol level and causes the person to begin to see fewer perspectives, .
  • or in other words, to lose the ability to reframing. .
  • The four stages of awareness of mental agility also gives recommendations for those who want .
  • to improve their mental agility. .
  • The area on the left is called lead myself and is the foundation for improving self-awareness. .
  • The area on the right is called lead others and offers the basis for greater mental agility .
  • and empathy towards others. .
  • I'm aware of the exact moment when my brain activates my facts to filter the situation .
  • and create my own subjective reality. .
  • I know how to adjust my mindset to go beyond my facts. .
  • Imagine you're having a conversation with someone who's observing a situation with different .
  • facts than you're seeing. .
  • In the first moments of that conversation, your facts will dominate your brain, leaving .
  • little room to clearly evaluate the other person's facts. .
  • Therefore, it's important that you become aware of the exact moment when your facts begin .
  • to filter the situation and create your subjective reality. .
  • When you become aware of this, you can explicitly change your mental processes and adjust your .
  • thinking to go beyond your facts. .
  • You can use strategies to accomplish this, and we have developed tools and training that .
  • will show you how to achieve a new understanding of your mind. .
  • This will help you evaluate more information, see different facts, adapt better to an exponential .
  • world, and make better decisions. .
  • The same is true for perspectives, emotions, and values. .
  • The emotion stage prepares you to experience the feelings of others while we consider values .
  • the highest level of mental agility. .
  • When you can temporarily take on another person's values as if they were your own, we say you're .
  • reframing. .
  • And this is crucial to build shared progress. .
  • To sum up, the left area focuses on increasing mental agility with respect to self-knowledge .
  • and self-awareness. .
  • Let's talk now about the right side of the four stages of awareness of mental agility. .
  • I'm aware that your brain filters the situation with your facts to create your subjective .
  • reality. .
  • I realize that your view is as real as mine. .
  • I know how to adjust my mindset to go beyond my facts. .
  • This area focuses on increasing mental agility and empathy with respect to others. .
  • It makes us see that we are all similar when we embark on the conscious path of building .
  • a more flexible and resilient mind. .
  • It also helps to become aware of the critical moment when you begin to understand where .
  • the other person stands regarding their path to mental agility. .
  • This helps you adjust your mindset, expectations, behaviors, and your communication strategy .
  • to support others and see that the other person's point of view is as real as your own. .
  • Each person requires their own time, space, and needs when it comes to improving their .
  • mental agility and start focusing on mutual benefits and shared progress. .
  • If you understand this, you can also become aware of your blind spots and focus on the .
  • way others evaluate situations. .
  • Your superpowers are about adjusting your mindset to increase your empathy and understanding .
  • of the other individual so that you can lead others based on the other person's needs. .
  • This will improve your leadership skills and allow for the magnification of your communication .
  • beyond the empathic level. .
  • Something crucial in tri-value companies is necessary to build shared progress. .
  • In summary, the stages on the right make it possible to create a common ground that allows .
  • others to develop and build a collective capacity of understanding that enables everyone in the .
  • company to have higher levels of mental agility when facing accelerated change. .
  • I imagine you're wondering how to build indicators for mental agility. .
  • One way is to use each of the stages and evaluate them independently. .
  • For example, the ease with which a team or an individual can evaluate another person's .
  • facts using a scale of 0 to 4 or the range you prefer, then you could do the same with .
  • perspectives, emotions, and values. .
  • Another option is to combine these four stages in a single metric. .
  • The higher the score, the closer you're to the value stage or reframing. .
  • The lower the score, the closer you're to the facts level, which translates into less .
  • mental agility. .
  • You can also use other approaches, such as measuring people's adaptability to change, .
  • the level of conflict when situations change unexpectedly, etc. .
  • We call it changeability in enterprise agility. .
  • We'll measure it indirectly, such as the time it takes to achieve the same innovation .
  • or business value they'd before the disruption. .
  • You can measure mental agility in a scientific way, and this is something you can consider .
  • as well. .
  • Let's look at some examples of what indicators you can use to measure mental agility. .
  • Measure the four stages of mental agility independently. .
  • Find one indicator for each stage. .
  • Evaluate the time to adapt to the new reality. .
  • Use other ways to measure mental agility. .
  • We hope you found it useful. .
  • Thanks Erich, and you for giving us the opportunity to explain all this. .
  • Remember that mental agility isn't a score, but an approach that allows us to make better .
  • decisions when helping people, teams, and companies that require greater resilience .
  • and adaptability to change and help you build shared progress. .
  • You have been awesome today. .
  • We have a lot to learn in the next chapters, such as the NeuroX profiles to understand .
  • how neurocapabilities can help people when they are exposed to exponential or accelerated .
  • change, the three-value companies, which is a new conception of how organizations build .
  • value when they are exposed to constant changes or high uncertainty. .
  • Do you want to know more about enterprise agility? .
  • See you soon. .