AGILE GURUGRAM 2017 | Day 1 | Talk | 12:15 - 13:00

1. AGILE IS A FLEXIBLE MINDSET
Gautam Mahajan
26 May, 2017
AGILE GURUGRAM 2017

2. Lifetime is shorter
• Lifetime of companies have fallen 80% in last
60 years
• Lifetime of CEOS have fallen to 2years
Need to be Flexible and Agile

3. Agility
• The practiced ability to react to problems,
shifting market conditions and events as quickly,
efficiently and effectively as possible. Moreover,
agility isn’t just a “nice” thing to have—in many
organizations’ eyes, agility is the single most
important strategy to use when dealing with
change and disruption
• Agile innovation is not enough
• Reactive, we need proactive

4. Agile and Flexible
• Agile
– Moving fast/Reacting to unpredictable change
– Processes/systems
• Flexible
– Having Options
– Human thinking
– Ready capability to adapt to new, different, or
changing requirements. Disruption
– Be the disruptor.
??We are flexible (but truly we are fixed in our beliefs,
fixed in our thinking that what we know and say is
sacrosanct)??

5. • Flexible management thinking and executives
can create better Agility and Value

6. Mahajan Principles of Flexibility
• The First Principle of Flexibility and Mindset: Flexible
managers/executives create truly flexible and agile
organisations and systems
• The Second Principle of Flexibility and Mindset: You
cannot effectively design or work on flexible systems,
innovation and creativity unless your mindset is flexible
• The Third Principle of Flexibility and Mindset: The
unfettered quest for flexibility can destroy Value
• The Fourth Principle of Mindset Flexibility: Degree of
flexibility varies with people, and depends on attitude,
mindset and circumstances
• The Fifth Principle of Flexibility and Mindset:
Flexibility requires management of dilemmas

7. Mahajan Principles of Flexibility
• The First Principle of Flexibility and Mindset: Flexible
managers/executives create truly flexible and agile
organisations and systems
• The Second Principle of Flexibility and Mindset: You
cannot effectively design or work on flexible systems,
innovation and creativity unless your mindset is flexible
• The Third Principle of Flexibility and Mindset: The
unfettered quest for flexibility can destroy Value
• The Fourth Principle of Mindset Flexibility: Degree of
flexibility varies with people, and depends on attitude,
mindset and circumstances
• The Fifth Principle of Flexibility and Mindset:
Flexibility requires management of dilemmas

8. Mahajan Principles of Flexibility
• The First Principle of Flexibility and Mindset: Flexible
managers/executives create truly flexible and agile
organisations and systems
• The Second Principle of Flexibility and Mindset: You
cannot effectively design or work on flexible systems,
innovation and creativity unless your mindset is flexible
• The Third Principle of Flexibility and Mindset: The
unfettered quest for flexibility can destroy Value
• The Fourth Principle of Mindset Flexibility: Degree of
flexibility varies with people, and depends on attitude,
mindset and circumstances
• The Fifth Principle of Flexibility and Mindset:
Flexibility requires management of dilemmas

9. Mahajan Principles of Flexibility
• The First Principle of Flexibility and Mindset: Flexible
managers/executives create truly flexible and agile
organisations and systems
• The Second Principle of Flexibility and Mindset: You
cannot effectively design or work on flexible systems,
innovation and creativity unless your mindset is flexible
• The Third Principle of Flexibility and Mindset: The
unfettered quest for flexibility can destroy Value
• The Fourth Principle of Mindset Flexibility: Degree of
flexibility varies with people, and depends on attitude,
mindset and circumstances
• The Fifth Principle of Flexibility and Mindset:
Flexibility requires management of dilemmas

10. Mahajan Principles of Flexibility
• The First Principle of Flexibility and Mindset: Flexible
managers/executives create truly flexible and agile
organisations and systems
• The Second Principle of Flexibility and Mindset: You
cannot effectively design or work on flexible systems,
innovation and creativity unless your mindset is flexible
• The Third Principle of Flexibility and Mindset: The
unfettered quest for flexibility can destroy Value
• The Fourth Principle of Mindset Flexibility: Degree of
flexibility varies with people, and depends on attitude,
mindset and circumstances
• The Fifth Principle of Flexibility and Mindset:
Flexibility requires management of dilemmas

11. Mahajan Principles of Flexibility
• The First Principle of Flexibility and Mindset: Flexible
managers/executives create truly flexible and agile
organisations and systems
• The Second Principle of Flexibility and Mindset: You
cannot effectively design or work on flexible systems,
innovation and creativity unless your mindset is flexible
• The Third Principle of Flexibility and Mindset: The
unfettered quest for flexibility can destroy Value
• The Fourth Principle of Mindset Flexibility: Degree of
flexibility varies with people, and depends on attitude,
mindset and circumstances
• The Fifth Principle of Flexibility and Mindset:
Flexibility requires management of dilemmas

12. Innovation
• Flexibility
• Agility
• Risk taking
As an aside, as a people are we flexible? We are rigid about
change (changing ourselves and our mindset). We follow rules
when forced to. Otherwise we are flexible to break rules, cheat
the system

13. Fixed vs Growth Mindset
• A fixed mindset comes from a belief that basic
qualities like intelligence and talent are pre-
set. Such people document their intelligence
and talent, rather than develop them
• A growth mindset says that basic abilities can
be improved through education and hard
work. This creates a love for learning and
education and resilience for great
accomplishments

14. Mental Agility
• To change our mindset requires mental agility
which is related to our perceptions, emotions,
actions, awareness and motivations
• Creating Value versus destroying Value

15. The A’s of Success
• Awareness
• Anticipation
• Attitude
• Ability
• Agility
• Ambidextrousness
From Self-esteem to Proactiveness

16. Build for the Future
• An agile and an
• Anticipatory, flexible mind set organisation
• Value Creation through AGILE

17. AGILE and Value Creation
Leaders and Executives:
• How do you create Value?
– Not just by doing your AGILE job but going beyond
– Flexibility, and the As
• MIB (make it better), MUB, MYB/MMB
• Go beyond to add
– Sharing
– Context
• Temporariness of Context
– Advantage of latency, and waiting to happen
• Focused on outcomes, relief and putting customer in
control

18. Gautam Mahajan
Gautam.mahajan@gmail.com
AGILE IS A FLEXIBLE MINDSET