Drive rapid innovation by developing agile mindset

Sagar Kulkarni
11 min readFeb 13, 2022

Photo Credit: Jarmoluk — pixabay

Saagar Kulkarni

CSuite Council Advisor, Keynote Speaker, Coach, Author, Workshop Facilitator, Founder of mSTAR Principle

The agile mindset is a methodology for innovation that reduces time to market and maximizes customer satisfaction. The agile mindset method creates a culture of continuous learning and adaptability. Implementing this process in the workplace can help employees become more creative, innovative, and organized. It also enables organizations to focus on the essential tasks first instead of investing too much time on low-priority work. Imagine if you had more than one person working on a project simultaneously.

Driving rapid innovation is challenging. One way to do it is to develop an agile mindset. And by “mindset,” I don’t mean just having a vision. Good leaders should be open-minded and prepared for anything because the best innovators are ones who can identify what’s working and what’s not, discard what’s not, and keep iterating on the process until something does work.

Developing an agile mindset can help companies drive innovation quickly and efficiently. This way of thinking is characterized by the need to take action as soon as possible, failing early and often, and not waiting for perfect solutions. When a company embraces this operating mode, it can simplify product design, increase customer focus, and encourage creativity.

Agile operating model transformation is not a new concept. However, it is gaining traction as organizations seek to innovate faster and increase productivity. This has become more difficult with the advent of the digital economy, making competition more fierce than ever before. Organizations are looking to transition to an agile operating model for this reason.

Agile operating model transformation is the new business mantra for companies looking to innovate and increase productivity. Businesses need to be responsive, flexible, and nimble to thrive and maintain a competitive advantage in a changing market. The average lifespan is between 15–20 years, but most companies can’t survive that long with the old models of leadership, so they need to transform quickly before it’s too late.

Simplifying the way your company operates can be freeing and allow for higher productivity levels. The two major components that must be addressed when considering an agile operating model transformation are culture and processes. With a new operating model, it’s essential to create a culture that embraces change and thrives in a high-paced environment while also implementing changes to how work is done so employees can move quickly and efficiently through their production process with minimal barriers.

Agile transformation is a new way of managing productivity equation — cost and innovation-driven growth. It requires a shift from traditional management practices such as planning, budgeting, forecasting, and reporting. Agile transformation involves breaking down silos between departments and creating cross-functional teams where everyone has access to what others are doing. This enables people to collaborate more effectively across functions and disciplines. The result? A culture that encourages experimentation, continuous improvement, and rapid response time.

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Unsurprisingly, many organizations are now looking for ways to maximize efficiency and profitability. As the world brings everything close and more globalized, companies expand their reach and develop the need to compete globally. This puts pressure on companies with stiff competition as they scramble to stay afloat.

We live in a knowledge-driven economy that demands innovation; as we keep innovating, we keep growing, and with this, we keep finding new ways to increase our effectiveness and diminish our costs. The word “culture” is associated with many different definitions. The Oxford Dictionary defines culture as the “characteristics, beliefs, habits, arts, etc., of a particular society or group of people.” A company’s culture ultimately decides what changes are made in an organization. A successful business has to have a lifestyle that the customer base they are trying to target is appreciated.

What is an agile and agile operating model? Enterprise organizations are always trying to bring innovation into the workplace. We all know that new technologies and ideas can be disruptive, yet there is no better way to keep up with the ever-changing business landscape. The problem comes in when we try to introduce radical change without first understanding how it affects those who will implement and operate the changes daily. This is where Agile Operating Modeling comes in. It helps you understand what your customers need from their IT infrastructure so that you can design solutions that meet these needs while minimizing the disruption of existing processes. In the past decade, we have seen various companies and organizations, and individuals create innovations that have had a profound effect on society. Innovations such as Facebook, Uber, and Airbnb have made an unprecedented level of connectivity for people worldwide. These innovations not only connect us with old friends and new acquaintances, but they also shape modern culture by enabling us to share information and experiences more quickly than ever before. The term “culture transforming innovation” is new and intriguing: it is a concept that McKinsey and Company’s Rik Kirkland coined. He defines culture-transforming innovation as “a discrete breakthrough that changes the way we live or work” (Culture-Transforming Innovation). Some of these innovations have been so prescient as to change industries fundamentally.

How do agility and an agile operating model help your company? Agility and agile operating models are becoming increasingly popular with many companies in today’s world. The idea is that organizations must shift their resources quickly to meet customer needs. Organizations that use an agile operating model can do so with the least amount of waste possible, using their resources more efficiently.

Organizations can use agility and agile methods for several reasons, such as developing a new product or service, improving their customer service, or increasing their revenues. This is a short article about the ever-changing innovations of today’s culture. In technology, many products have been invented and enhanced over time to serve their particular niche or market better. Some inventions were created for a specific purpose that has since evolved into innovation with a different objective. Examples include Uber, Airbnb, Amazon Prime, Snapchat, and FaceTime. In today’s world, innovation can be found everywhere. There is a never-ending need for change from the way we travel to our daily rituals. And that’s where culture comes into play. Innovation comes from a society constantly looking for a better way of being. That doesn’t just mean new products but also life improvement.

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Role of Product owner, engineering, program manager in agile Organization — In the modern global economy, agile teams are expected to deliver value and innovation consistently. One way that organizations can move into this model is by changing the role of their product owner, engineering, and program managers. As discussed in an article by David Starr; engineer; and Jeff Sutherland, CEO of Scrum Inc., the product owner should provide the voice of the customer in a degree akin to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). They should manage risk and negotiate release agreements with stakeholders. The team’s engineers must understand what they need from the business side to avoid wasting time on features that will never ship or may even harm the company. Finally, the program manager must ensure that all these pieces work together smoothly. This is where agile comes into play: it provides a framework for managing this complexity. The culture responsible for innovation and leading-edge ideas in the workplace is one of the most essential parts of a company. The culture can transform an organization from small-town roots to a global powerhouse. Culture can also turn a promising company into a sluggish corporation with no direction. It should come as no surprise that a company’s culture considerably affects its success or failure.

Agility is the capacity to turn on a dime without losing sight of your ultimate objectives. It means embracing the opportunity to think outside the box while maintaining continuity of purpose. Agility is change management on steroids.

Customers are not always rational beings who make decisions based on objective criteria. They are human beings influenced by emotions and feelings, which can be manipulated or triggered in various ways. The best way to deal with this situation is to understand that customers’ needs are often irrational and emotional. In other words, they don’t necessarily follow logical reasoning; instead, their actions are driven more by emotion than logic.

Agile organization transformation and building confidence as a leader — Over the past decade, the culture at many organizations has shifted from a hierarchical structure to an agile, flat organization. The change can be challenging for both managers and employees alike. Leaders must learn how to manage in this new environment.

If you are a leader looking to change your company’s culture, here are some steps you can take to build trust and confidence within your team.

1. Communicate the vision of what you want to achieve with your teammates.

2. Listen actively when people talk about their concerns or ideas. This will help them feel heard and valued. It also shows that they matter to you as well. You may not agree with everything they say, but it is important to show interest by asking questions and listening carefully.

How Agile organizations leverage people, process, strategy, structure, and technology: Agile organizations leverage people, process, strategy, structure, and technology through rapid prototyping. This allows them to experiment with different approaches to get the best results for their business. The culture of these companies is focused on creativity rather than control. They are willing to try new things because they know that there will be a learning opportunity if something doesn’t work out.

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Rapid prototyping is a common way that Agile organizations leverage people, process, strategy, structure, and technology. It involves the Transformation journey of the agile operating framework to better performance. An organization that adopted the Agile model has outperformed.

Agile transformation helps to develop transformative leadership mindsets and capabilities. Furthermore, it provides the tools to shift the environment into one that allows for agile transformations by tapping into the wisdom of all members. Leaders are challenged to not only adopt agility within their thinking but also in how they lead others. The mindset shift is crucial because it opens up work-life integration and innovation cycles possibilities. It enables leaders to be more flexible and responsive to change while maintaining a high level of quality. This can help them become better at leading people through transitions and changes. In addition, this approach allows organizations to adapt quickly when faced with new challenges or opportunities.

The culture transforming innovation of agile has not only allowed us to adapt to the ever-changing nature of our work, but it has also given us a way to exceed expectations. Agile is a more flexible organizational model that all industries have widely adopted. The more adaptable approach allows organizations to remain more nimble and innovative, ultimately outperforming their competitors.

The agile operating framework is a culture of innovation that has significantly affected how organizations operate. It is designed to promote an organizational capability for business responsiveness and agility in the marketplace. The organizational design process relies heavily on collaboration, and it involves continuous and iterative testing and feedback cycles. This creates a system where the Organization can respond to changes faster than they used to within their traditional business model.

Three new ways companies are thinking about agility on the executive level :

Agility as a competitive advantage: Companies have realized that being more responsive to market conditions allows them to gain a strategic edge over competitors who may not react quickly enough or effectively adapt to changing markets. In addition, companies realize the importance of having a culture where employees feel empowered to make decisions independently without needing approval from higher-ups. This environment encourages innovation and creativity to stay ahead of the competition.

Agile development methods: Agile methodologies such as Scrum allow teams to be highly flexible and respond rapidly to changes in business needs. These environments encourage collaboration between team members and foster an atmosphere that is conducive to creative thinking.

Collaboration with customers: Companies have realized how important it is to collaborate closely with their end-users when developing new products. In this way, they can better understand the problems being faced by these individuals and create solutions tailored specifically towards them. This type of approach has been shown to increase customer satisfaction and reduce costs associated with product failures. Innovation through experimentation — The ability for companies to experiment on ideas without fear of failure or repercussion allows employees to explore different possibilities and find innovative ways to solve problems. By allowing employees to take risks to develop new ideas, companies can avoid stagnation and remain competitive.

Companies are increasingly adopting a culture of change to stay competitive. Recent trends illustrate a new level of agility that is embraced on the ground and at the executive level.

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New methods of acceleration and collaboration have emerged as a new way for companies to think about agility. For example, startups are now more likely to focus on “scaling up” their business instead of scaling out. This means that instead of starting with one or two products in an industry, these businesses start by building a portfolio of offerings across multiple industries. The idea behind this approach is that it allows them to learn from each other’s successes and failures while simultaneously expanding into different markets.

The new agile operating model has helped increase our productivity and innovation. The transformation of the Agile working model has enabled companies to innovate faster with higher productivity. In the past 20 years, the world has entered a new age of innovation. This innovation has been driven by a culture that values diversity and open-mindedness, and a deep understanding of emerging technology and its applications. When our lifestyles are ever more globalized, this culture is uniquely positioned to prepare for the future.

The culture of a company is constantly changing and evolving. There will be ebbs and flows when it comes to embracing innovation, but when the right moment arises, everyone in the Organization must become engaged in the process.

After many years of being stuck in its ways, an innovative idea can pave the way for new opportunities. The best organizations are starting to realize that they need to put aside what worked in the past and focus on building their futures.

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Sagar Kulkarni
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Passionate, dedicated and motivational leader, with proven aptitude for championing environment.