Taffy
Williams can be found on Twitter @twilli2861, ColonialTDC , photo
website, Google+, Facebook, and Startup Group on Linkedin. He writes the Startup Blog and articles
for the Examiner: Charlotte,
NC- small business. More on the agile concepts may be found in
soon to be released book: ThinkAgile
Steps to consider to start and grow a company. Basics are provided to help entrepreneurs. Examples may relate to Biotech, Pharma and Medical Device businesses, but the ideas apply to most technology fields.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Focus is important but so is agile thinking
You must learn when to take your "eyes off the ball"! |
Entrepreneurs must learn to balance two skills and know when to
use them; a) Focus and, b) Agile Thinking.
Focus is driven into entrepreneurs by investors and experienced
managers. The ability to be more agile
in one’s thinking comes from practice. When the situation dictates, agile
thinking should take the lead over focus.
Examples of these two skills are found in discovery experimentation
in a laboratory. Scientists must conduct
extensive literature to learn about the field they pursue. They then develop a hypothesis that requires
testing. Proper experimental design
forms the preparation leading to the testing and results that either confirm or
refute the hypothesis. A high degree of
focus is used in the execution of the experimentation to ensure proper procedures
and completeness of the tests. However,
the agile thinking comes into play during the learning phase and interpretation
phase.
The learning phase is the time when a scientist may let their mind
run wild. The goal is developing a hypothesis
that covers the total of all facts known to date. Once the tests are complete, the interpretation
of the results and any future experimental designs require agile thinking. It is through this agile phase that new hypothesizes
or amazing discoveries become apparent.
The same is true for business.
The art of preparing a business plan requires extensive learning about
the sector and business. The plan will
contain a course of action requiring the entrepreneur to focus. However, since the business landscape changes
on a regular basis and things rarely go as planned, the entrepreneur must remain
alert and use the agile thinking skills to make corrections and chart new
courses. Thinking agile also is
important for the entrepreneur because they learn to monitor the surroundings
and possibly evade road blocks.
It is important to keep ones “eye
on the ball” so to speak! But,
observation and adjustments are sometimes needed depending on the
situation. Focus on the end goals
ensures you know where you are going.
Being alert and using agile thinking may help you plan more than one
path to achieve your objective.
Alternatively, the agile thinking may allow you to see superior
opportunities and identify a means of capitalizing on them.
Focus
and Thinking Agile are two skills that if used properly can work to
your benefit. Learning to use these two
skills takes practice or you may become too diffuse in our efforts and fail to
make real progress! The ability to analyze
any situation and identify the smartest path to success can help you go further
and achieve the success you desire.
Taffy
Williams can be found on Twitter @twilli2861, ColonialTDC , photo
website, Google+, Facebook, and Startup Group on Linkedin. He writes the Startup Blog and articles
for the Examiner: Charlotte,
NC- small business. More on the agile concepts may be found in
soon to be released book: Think
Agile
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Agile thinking helps entrepreneurs achieve success
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Choose your path wisely! |
It is easy to stay locked in to a rigid way of thinking and
in performance of activities. When traveling, you see a road and proceed down
the path until you find an impediment or blockage. Then what do you do? This is where many entrepreneurs get stuck
and have problems overcoming problems.
They create a plan and fail to consider alternatives or potential
hazards. Once faced with an impediment,
they lose time while deciding how to react.
Alternatively, they may continue with the same old daily activities when
a change may create a more dramatic shift in results. Thinking Agile is critical to enhanced
performance and eliminating impediments.
The word Agile suggests an ability to move quickly, easily,
smarter and in a clever manner. An entrepreneur
recently asked me how Agile was different from The Pivot. A Pivot is a subset of Agile in that one
makes a quick change. Agile thinking is involved
in determining whether to pivot or not. Agile
thinking leads to use of all available information and advanced planning. Agile thinking is important to recognizing a
situation where a Pivot makes sense and may work.
Take a look at the photo.
The far off region appears to be in the same plane as the high nearby
rocks. If you were to completely survey
the site, it would immediately become clear that the near rocks are on the edge
of a cliff. Moving in a straight line
would be a severe hazard. You can make a
quick turn right or left and you will find the same problem of facing the edge
of a cliff. It is only after a complete
examination of the total surroundings that backtracking to the rear provides
the safest path home. Agile includes survey of surroundings and consideration
of alternatives.
The art of Agile Thinking is a skill that can be
learned. The ability to consider and
evaluate and make plans rapidly is part of the process. It also includes some of the following
characteristics:
·
Trusting the people working with you
·
Relying on other peoples skills and knowledge in
the areas where you may be lacking
·
Short working cycles to deliver a minimally
viable product
·
Inspect and Adapt your plans constantly
·
Fail Fast and Fail Often so you can learn what
doesn't work and then move towards what will.
The article “4
Actions toward becoming an agile entrepreneur” provides other actions that
are helpful to becoming more agile. Learning
to become more agile in your thinking will help in identifying novel
alternatives and strategies that may increase your chances of success. Agile thinking is important to new and
experienced entrepreneurs especially in a startup!
Taffy
Williams can be found on Twitter @twilli2861, ColonialTDC , photo
website, Google+, Facebook, and Startup Group on Linkedin. He writes the Startup Blog and articles
for the Examiner: Charlotte,
NC- small business. More on the agile concepts may be found in
soon to be released book: ThinkAgile
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