Why this matters
When we have to live and work in this VUCA world we have to remain intentionally flexible to be able to adapt and roll with the punches. This, over time, translated directly in how resilient and ultimately successful we are as a team.
Some of us are more predisposed to being easy-going and laid back and can take change without any problem whereas others have emotional makeups that don’t lend themselves to it with the same ease.
Thankfully, becoming flexible is trainable and the more we practice the easier it gets.
How to run it
- 1
Start an email thread on “What does “being flexible” mean to us? No mandatory participation but circulate it for about a week in the run-up to the session. When anyone comes up with any ideas that would work for the session, stick them on the Miro board.
- 2
Create 3 areas on the board:
- SCENARIOS
- LAST 3 SPRINTS ALTERNATIVE ENDINGS
- “FLEX YOUR FLEX”
- 3
Start the session with having everyone score themselves on “How flexible am I as an individual in general - with 0 being not at all and 5 most flexible” and have the names and self-scores on a Miro post-it on the board next to the 3 areas.
- 4
Remember the last time you displayed flexibility as a team - ask the team to remember the last example of an instance where you’ve had to roll with the punches together.
- 5
Scenarios. For 5 minutes - use the first area to post answers the team gives when asked to construct some general examples - “If we were to be moved off this project / be given another assignment / asked to do X / moved to this area/ told we are no longer in charge of / &hellp;” Make sure at least some of the questions are around having the opposite role in the organisation - “If we were not tech at all but in finance we would have to…” or “If we were writing this policy we would…” or “If our team were the leadership them then…”
- 6
Last 3 Sprints (Periods) Alternative Endings. For 10 minutes - spend some time listing what were the wins or results of the last few sprints. If you aren’t an Agile team and don’t use sprints then think of the last 3 months. What have you accomplished? Choose the top 1-2 things you managed then ask yourself how could that have ended up differently if any of the variables would have been different say if you were to have had some other technology introduced or more resources offered or people added or subtracted from the team or deadlines prolonged/shortened?
- 7
“Flex your flex” exercise. Spend 10 minutes giving as imaginative/crazy/SciFi examples as you can when you fill some of these in these affirmations individually then share. Look out for the craziest answers and crown the author of the most “ Even if there was an alien cow invasion and we were drafted to fight them, we would code a way to send them back to space by Monday” affirmation as “MegaFlex”:
- “Even if … we would …”
- “In the outlandish event that … our team …”
- “Say happened … we would ….”
- 8
Have everyone score themselves again in parentheses next to their initial score in the Miro post-it.
What next
Ask people regularly to remember this session to recall the point of remaining flexible and look at your Resilience to see its effects over time.