Did you ever participate in the Canada Fitness Awards in the 1970’s and 80’s?

Back in the day the Canadian government launched a national fitness program for kids called the Canada Fitness Awards.  Apparently a fitness stat at the time was that an average 65 year old Swede was in better shape than a decades younger Canadian.  So, as a nation, we needed to get in shape.

The Canada Fitness Test consisted of push-ups, sit-ups, the dreaded “flexed-arm hang”, some sprints, a shuttle run, and a distance run.  Students were awarded Bronze, Silver, Gold, or the coveted “Award of Excellence” based on their achievement in each event.  My first crack at the test I got a Bronze Level of Fitness – I was mortified.

My mortification sent me on a journey of self-improvement.  My objective?  The Award of Excellence of course.

I did whatever I could to address the areas in which I needed improvement.  I learned the standards, and then I practiced each of the events until I could achieve the standard of excellence in each category.

One of the events that was tough to practice on your own was the shuttle run.  The shuttle run was designed to test “agility”.  The shuttle run involved running back and forth between two lines, each time bending down to pick up a small bean bag to shuttle it back to your starting point.  It was all about acceleration, nimble movement, and a fast change in direction to get back to your starting point.

So how’s your agility?  I mean, your corporate agility…

Today’s world demands that organizations learn to change at an increasingly fast rate.  Businesses need to learn to assess, plan and act with increasing speed or they will be left behind by those businesses who have learned to do so.  In business it’s not survival of the fittest, it’s survival of the most agile.

Corporate agility involves making decisions as rapidly as possible, then executing those decisions equally as quickly.  Rapid decision making and implementation can determine if you are a market leader, or a follower – a “winner” or a “loser”.

One environment where agile decision making is the difference between life and death is that of a fighter pilot.  Fighter pilots must make life and death decisions in nano-seconds.  This is so much so that United States Air Force Colonel John Boyd developed a decision making cycle known as the OODA loop:  observe, orient, decide, and act.  Boyd applied the concept to the combat operations process, often at the strategic level in military operations.

Likewise, organizations need to assess their OODA loop.  What is the speed of your decision making process?  How fast are you able to observe what is going on; then orient your company and your people to that reality; decide the best course of action; then take that action?

Practicing the OODA loop is like the shuttle run for organizations.  You can improve your agility by practicing your ability to observe, orient, decide and act.  It’s all about the speed with which you can move from awareness to execution.

Here is a very simple component you can implement immediately to improve your organizational agility.  One complaint often heard in hallways, offices and around watercoolers is how much time is “wasted” in meetings.  Scores of hours each week are eaten up in weakly led meetings where the participants leave asking the question, “What on earth did that accomplish?”

One method of keeping useless meetings at bay is what I call the “What? Who? When?” strategy.  Very simply, at the end of each point of discussion there are 3 questions asked,

“What is going to be done?  Who is going to do it?  When is it going to be done by?”

These 3 simple questions will create action, accountability, and a time frame within which progress must be made.  Then, of course, the leader must follow up and hold people accountable to accomplish their objectives.

Every set of meeting minutes should have 3 questions after each point: What?  Who? When?

Think of it as your shuttle run of deliverables.  By doing this you will increase your agility, and move closer to accomplishing your corporate Award of Excellence.