Agility

Forthcoming in the new Empire State College Magazine is my article on agility. The text of my most recent draft is below for comment:

The English poet, W.H. Auden once noted that “every advance in technology requires a similar advance in metaphysics.” Usually, the passage is read as referring to a linear, unidirectional relationship, but it also needs to be tested in the inverse—in this instance, I will assert that it does. Namely, every advance in technology offers a new paradigm of metaphysics. Each time society develops new technologies, it adopts new models which allow those new technologies to thrive in a contemporary environment. Copernicus changed the way in which we see the universe, but so did Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison.

In this age, the advent of the internet in general and social networking in general offer us a new model which we can build systems upon. These models are known as agility and openness. In the Center for Graduate Programs, we have been working to institute these models in our daily center operations. For that reason, while explaining the theory, I will provide concrete examples from Higher Education as a business.

One of the major effects of the new models is a shifting from linear models to “web based models.” we now need to think in terms of interconnections rather than the points themselves. As a result, each business sector must redefine itself and its operations to align with this new structure (incidentally, the structure is not unique to the internet but goes back to many pre-internet ideas and can be traced as far back as Heraclitus and was a popular idea developed in the work of Colin Wilson at the time that Empire State College was founded). In Higher Education, we need to begin to refocus on interdisciplinary learning (a area where Empire State College is already ahead of the remainder of Higher Education)--academic disciplines are designed more to be job paths for those of us in the academy as opposed to being structures to meet the needs of student learning. Just as we need to model ourselves on these new structures, we also need to embrace them. The Horizon Report,which looks at the future of Higher Education and technology, noted in the 2009 edition that: “Significant shifts are taking place in the ways scholarship and research are conducted, and there is a need for innovation and leadership at all levels of the academy.” As I noted above, Empire State College is well ahead of the curve, so fully embracing these ideas through agility becomes a natural progression for us.

The concept of agility came about from The Agile Manifesto. This document, originally drafted as agreed upon principles for software development on February 11, 2001, operates on four basic planks:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software (active learning)over comprehensive documentation (content)‏
Customer (Learner) collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan

The essence of the manifesto is to modify operations from a linear, producer driven mode of production into a collaborative, people centered model which embraces the complex interconnectivity of many parties. The terms in parentheses is where we have modified the manifesto for our use in graduate programs. The important part of the manifesto is that it is comparative, it does not believe that the items on the right are of no value, but that the items on the left are of greater value.

“Individuals and interactions over processes and tools” summarizes a basic philosophy that can trace its roots all the way back to Aristotle. Aristotle noted that a tool is an inanimate object which reflects the nature of its user (the individual); this lesson was forgotten in the 19th and 20th Centuries as the production models of the Industrial Revolution saw the tools of production as being critical. In the new economy, the computer is only as good as the person sitting at it. More importantly as social networking tools take hold we realize that the value is in the collaboration and connection of many individuals. Take out the individuals and their interactions and you have an empty shell. In the business of Higher Education, the student becomes more important than the means of delivery. The individualized education that Empire State College provides is a reflection of this principle.

The second principle is “Working software over comprehensive documentation.” If you recall back in the day, it was not the job of the software to provide a function, it was your responsibility to look in the manual and find out how to do it. It was not about being user friendly in the way that most good software is today—if your were an early world wide web user before Internet Explorer or Netscape, using tools like Lynx—the simple back button made life so much easier. In an agile environment, it is about making sure that you are set up to be functional in all ways rather than having a process that someone has to discover when an issue arises. In education, we twist this one to say that active learning is more important than content. The learner needs to be involve din the front end, not simply reacting to what we provide or having to adapt to any shortcomings which we might have.

“Customer collaboration over contract negotiation” is the third point. It is not about setting rigid rules on the front end and binding everything to it, it is about involving all stake-holders in the decision making process of what can and will be done. In an agile environment, every member of the team has a stake and a say in decisions—everyone is involved. As our center is distributed across the state, we have three meetings per year where faculty all come in. Our meeting begins with a report on where we are, what the newest developments are, and where we are planning on heading. Everyone is invited: faculty, professionals, and staff, because everyone has a stake and is effected by it, everyone has a say. When it comes to student learning, it is about the Learner collaborating in what they need to know rather than following a default syllabus. For Graduate students, for example, we have the IDA process where MBA students can test out of those areas they are proficient in.

Finally, “Responding to change over following a plan.” Heraclitus, whom I mentioned early is the first ancient philosopher to discuss the world as a complex, intertwined entity in a constant state of flux. In the current age change happens rapidly. Every plan has to be willing to change quickly and individuals need to be able to change their roles on a team very quickly as well. In learning, it is again about using the modes of delivery and the teaching style which is most effective at that moment.

To pull all of this together, we have the question of how do we achieve agility. While there are many factors, there are a few key ones. First, you have to have a flatness of organization (including decision making) where communal management is practiced—as a leader, you cannot rule by hierarchy and more importantly, change has to be initiated strategically with grass roots buy in. Second, and the more difficult path to pursue: your team must function based upon projects in which their roles will shift depending upon the job and not based upon a fixed job description (you can see where this comes from the manifesto). The third effective practice is the use of think tanks and communities or practice rather than committees and task forces. Committees are designed to maintain the status quo and ensure that minimal change occurs. Task forces are designed, as the name implies, to perform a specific task of limited impact or change. Think tanks exist to allow individuals to suggest ideas and be more creative. (For more information on this topic, see my column in The Grentree Gazette ). The effective think tank offers security and safety for ideas; to keep people creative and participatory in the workplace, they have to be made to feel a sense of safety and security. You have to make sure as the leader that they receive no repercussions for participating, being creative, or taking initiative—as the leader, it is our job to absorb and handle the repercussions. Finally, your team has to recognize that appropriate priorities are applied and practiced in the workplace. Respect the fact that people's lives come first and work with them to fit their career into their life and their job into their career and you will build an astounding team.

What then does it take to set up your organization to migrate to agility. In order for it to happen, as a leader, you have to have courage and absolute faith in your team. You also have to practice absolute honesty and openness—nothing should be hidden and everyone should feel that they know what is happening around them and why. For this reason, you want to have and communicate a solid vision which you can communicate as a narrative. Finally, you need to be ready to provide all the necessary professional development for your team to make them feel confident that they have all the necessary skills to fulfill their roles.

The nature of the role one plays fits into the area of openness which I will discuss in the next issue.