Jonathan Chan: “Agility Is the Skill of Tomorrow”
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We are getting to know agility better and better from its “project management” angle. But isn't agility more than that? Could it be the very skill organisations need to adapt to change? To answer these questions, we spoke to Jonathan Chan, well known on Twitter as @ChanPerco. A long-time explorer of the web, he is also a multi-careerist who juggles multiple activities and shares daily insights across social networks. Because agility is a skill that must be cultivated.
Jonathan, you chose the word agility to talk about digital transformation. Why does this word make sense today in your thinking about digital transformation?
Jonathan Chan: Agility is about not being anchored to certainties, which is especially true in a digital and technological environment that is constantly evolving and accelerating. I would quote Lao Tzu, the Chinese philosopher: “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward.”
Behind agility lies a methodology. Why is this methodology relevant for companies going through transformation?
Jonathan Chan: Today, planning every detail of your project in advance proves counterproductive. There will always be setbacks, and if you are rigidly tied to a plan, you will not be able to manage the unexpected.
There is no absolute truth today: as usage evolves, collaborative working gives every employee the chance to have a say at each stage and develop their creativity.
Agility also makes it possible to gather diverse perspectives, both from consumers and clients. This diversity of opinion challenges us, but I am convinced that innovation is not created by locking yourself into your own expertise: it is the product of mixing different viewpoints.
I therefore believe that agility must be adopted by companies as a culture, not as a pretext for innovation. Once it becomes part of company culture, it can be extended to other spheres.
Is agility a matter of skill? How do you develop it? What would your advice be?
Jonathan Chan: It falls under the logic of valuing soft skills. Today, needs and the required competencies evolve constantly; it is necessary to ensure that employees are in a continuous learning mindset and adaptation.
To develop our agility, we must accept the idea of stepping outside our own comfort zone by finding time to seek inspiration through discovery. It is important to stimulate curiosity, for example by encouraging quality monitoring practices. Do not hesitate to build a list of inspiring people and relevant websites to stay regularly informed.
Read also: Marie Dollé: “The real revolution lies in the ability some players have shown to build communities”
When I talk about stepping outside your comfort zone, I also recommend adopting a “test & learn” stance. It is easy to stick to a strategy when it is working well, but by testing several variants you will gain more interesting lessons and approach the problem as a whole. Don't forget that failure is one of the steps that leads to success.
Is agility the skill, the soft skill of tomorrow? How do you train for it?
Jonathan Chan: Agility is already the skill of today and tomorrow. If start-ups have grown so well, it is because established companies failed to seize market opportunities in time, and therefore failed to adapt to head off new entrants.
It is a mindset because it is first and foremost an approach, a state of mind, more than a methodology. I would place more emphasis on cooperation by practising exercises to solve problems or handle unprecedented situations.
In agile teams, one of the required qualities is empathy: by putting yourself in your colleagues’ shoes, this role reversal can be beneficial and allows everyone to step outside their comfort zone.
Can everyone become an agile employee?
Jonathan Chan: My instinct is to say yes, but reality can quickly catch up with expectations. Many companies treat it like a feature to install; I expect leadership and HR to be directly involved and to make it a culture over the medium and long term.
One solution would be to introduce reverse mentoring in companies. The days when the most experienced people knew everything are over: younger employees have a better command of digital tools. With this approach, everyone can learn from each other and become more agile.
But I do not think you need to be 100% agile at all costs. Human beings need certainties in order to conserve their energy, and it is exhausting to be constantly on alert, chasing every trend without completing projects already started. It is all a matter of balance.
And you, what has your own experience of agility been, over your journey on the web?
Jonathan Chan: I have noticed that agile people manage to open up more easily to new horizons; they thrive because they are happy to discover new knowledge every day while passing on what they have learned to others.
For my part, agility has always been part of my daily life. I am currently a “slasher”: I hold two part-time positions, at Dentsu Aegis Network (a communications group) and iProspect (a digital performance agency). The environments are not the same, hence the need to adapt. On top of that, I also handle B2B influence work as a freelancer, either on my own account or on behalf of the Brigade du Web, which makes for very full days.
All these roles have enriched my perspective. And when you work, as I do, on influence challenges, you are inevitably tied to performance, which means staying on top of the latest platform developments and deciding whether or not to integrate them into your strategy, while maintaining your editorial line.
Going further
To improve agility in your company, you need not only to develop your skills and adopt the right stance, but also to put the right digital tools in place! These tools, now indispensable, influence performance, agility and company culture alike. Read our white paper “What Tools for Next-Generation Companies?” to discover which tools to turn to:
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In our white paper “What Tools for Next-Generation Companies?”, you will discover: how digital tools shape organisations and their culture, which tools next-generation companies use, a comparison of the best tools for becoming more agile (THE skill of tomorrow), and the latest trends in software platform adoption.
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