What is Agile Mindset?
First and foremost, we would like to thank Dr. Ahmed Sidky for sharing his knowledge through this video on youtube. This is one of the best explanations on agile mindset that we found online, hence we are sharing this on our site , in the interest of our learners.
We encourage our learners to listen to the video however in case you are short of time, here is a quick summary from the video.
The culture of learning and experimentation essentially runs on mindset. In Prof. Carol Dweck’s book Mindset, she talks about 2 different mindsets- a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. On one hand, a fixed mindset entails that the potential of an individual is locked with no scope for further development. While on the other hand, a growth mindset is a belief in being able to grow to an unknown potential with constant development.
A fixed mindset comes along with the tendency to avoid failure and criticism- it shows the rigidity towards growth. Additionally, a fixed mindset also drifts towards a desire to demonstrate a flawless performance in order to evade challenges that can drive towards betterment.
In contradiction to a fixed mindset, a growth mindset makes one open to criticism and challenges. A growth mindset promotes improvement through failures and the notion that efforts drive the result.
These mindsets grow with a person and are subject to change with the environment.
When it comes to a fixed and a growth mindset with respect to work culture, the element of uncertainty also becomes essential.
Being in a work environment is constantly about learning and experimenting. However, the risks to be faced are unknown and both of these mindsets tackle these risks differently, with different behaviors.
For instance, a fixed mindset avoids exploring and only sticks to what is known and safe. This way, a fixed mindset dodges being in risky circumstances.
Meanwhile, a growth mindset is fueled by the idea of accepting the unknown state of a situation and learning about it to tackle the risks. The process of learning a new environment starts with accepting the unknown, exploring it, failing, and then exploring again and again to discover ways to efficiently tackle the risks as soon as possible and move forward.
Having a growth mindset in work culture is the Agile mindset, which is of utmost importance to stimulate an environment of learning and experimentation.
To summarize, Agile is a way of working, grounded in the culture of learning and experimentation. The essence of an Agile mindset is to allow the process of learning to happen followed by promoting a flexible work structure where newly learned techniques can be applied.
