Enterprise Agility recognizes different types of focus, which are crucial for organizational health and adaptability. At the human and team level, you have Broad Focus and Disciplined Focus. Broad Focus involves gathering diverse perspectives and analyzing information to develop holistic awareness despite complexity or uncertainty. Disciplined Focus means concentrating mental resources towards practical solutions and overcoming challenges.
These two types of focus influence how people think, react to change, and make decisions. Broad Focus enables big picture understanding while managing stress. Disciplined Focus empowers perseverance, problem-solving, and innovation by filtering distractions. Together, they allow toggling between openness and determination.
At the organizational level, you have the Four Types of Organizational Focus. These refer to enterprise-wide capabilities that facilitate adaptability to exponential change. The four focuses are:
- Strategic Orientation - Maintaining vision despite short-term issues
- Operational Excellence - Smooth operations and processes
- Collective Capabilities Wellbeing – Nurturing people's growth
- Changeability - Sensing and responding to change
Cultivating these areas provides a balanced focus on strengthening organizational “muscles” needed to thrive in an exponential world. It enables moving from reactive to proactive while ensuring people's wellbeing. The Enterprise Agility frameworks guide how to elevate these focuses. Let's explore these types together.
- Strategic Orientation: This is the ability to maintain a long-term perspective while making short-term decisions (bifocal approach). It's about keeping the organization's vision and goals in mind, even when dealing with immediate issues. Strategic focus is interconnected with Outcomes Agility, which is a specific dimension of Enterprise Agility focused on strategy and leadership. This involves fostering a culture of creativity and experimentation, where new ideas are encouraged and tested. Enterprise Agility reinforces this focus with Future Thinking. Future thinking means the ability to stretch our mental horizons and embrace a diversity of potential outcomes using a bifocal approach (Spot Indicators and Futures). It's about challenging our assumptions and collectively considering various new scenarios, considering Shared Progress and Shared Progress Bets too. This approach helps us build new collective capabilities and prepare for what's coming next.
- Operational Excellence: This is the day-to-day tasks, processes, and operations. It's about ensuring that the organization's systems and structures are functioning efficiently and effectively with low levels of stress. Technical and Structural Agility, another dimension of Enterprise Agility, can support operational focus by enhancing technical efficiency and process adaptability.
- Collective Capabilities Wellbeing: This involves paying attention to the wellbeing, development, and engagement of the workforce. It's about creating a positive work climate where individuals can thrive and contribute to their fullest potential. Social and Mental Agility, two dimensions of Enterprise Agility, can support people focus by fostering social connections and neuroplasticity. The TriValue Company Model (TVC) is also crucial here.
- Changeability: This is the ability to adapt and respond to changes in the internal and external environment. It involves sensing, analyzing, and acting on signals of change. This is where the Neuroscience of Change in Enterprise Agility and Enterprise Agility Framework's revolutionary model, the Minimum Healthy Step (MHS), can be particularly useful. MHS provides a leader with six types of actions to navigate change effectively.
Remember, balancing these different types of focus is key to achieving high performance. It's about creating a state of flow for your teams, where they can perform at their best, and for the organization, where it can adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing world. This means being always ready, responsive, and innovative (Three Universal Outcomes in Enterprise Agility)