What is agility and the role of the Agile Coach:

The complexity of our world, the VUCA world itself, and the amount of low-quality information further complicate the understanding of agility. Just like in the world of professional Agile coaching where there is a lot of intrusion and smoke, our business transformation world is full of bad practices that often lead to failure and a misunderstanding of what agility is. Our intention with these words is just to start giving some brushstrokes to shed a little more light.

What is agility?

The first thing to clarify is that agility is not a methodology, although the term "agile methodologies" is widely used. Agility is a "mindset", that is, a way of thinking that leads to a different way of working. CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) simplifies human behavior for us: Thoughts lead to feelings and feelings lead to behaviors and consequently to results. 

Therefore, we can say that "agility" is the way of working differently in teams or organizations, a consequence of thinking in a different way: the agile principles and values ​​of the agile manifesto.

How has it evolved?

We don't intend to spend much time on the history of agility however, it is important to know that agility is born in the world of software development. The concern to make the development of SW a success led to the search for the best work practices to make the work more efficient and look for more profitable projects. 

We can even go back before the origins of agility such as to other influences from other worlds. However, it is not as important as it was born, but rather how we have reached the current situation in recent years.

The dedication of agility professionals, its clear benefits, and results led to the same principles of agility being applied to other sectors not related to technology or software. Extrapolating the same agile principles and values ​​to these work environments has meant that today's agility is applied in teams and organizations of all kinds.

The most modern agility is testing other factors that go beyond the initial conception: values ​​and beliefs of the teams, the emotional management of the systems, the global organization of work, prioritization of company priorities (portfolio management), the evolution of culture and leadership and a long, etc that has made agility a broader concept than the original, borrowing and in turn contributing a lot of knowledge, tools, and practices from other disciplines.

What is an Agile Coach?

It is not what a Coach with knowledge of agile methodologies, principles, and values ​​may seem like… the figure of the traditional Coach as a companion of the team since the 11 ICF competitions is undergoing evolution at the moment that the professionals we will call from now on Agile training are also responsible for the results of the teams.

Think of an Agile coaching as an elite coach providing comprehensive training to an Olympic athlete. The demand for results is maximum, and the training has to be up to par. 

The Agile Coach no longer only does coaching, but also challenges him and teaches him how he should train, and take care of himself and how he can improve through a different work routine. At this point, some of you may squeak and think “How are you going to do coaching if you are a coach and a part? It's not possible!”

Well, the truth is that it is possible with ABC Programs, and it is very powerful. The secret lies in understanding that Agile coaching disappears in this profession as a process and remains as one more tool in the Agile Coach's suitcase, where their skills and abilities in the practice of coaching represent a differentiating reference in working with people, teams, and organizations.