Agility and Stability: You Can’t Have One Without the Other

Agility—the ability to manage whatever comes next instead of trying to predict the future—is a mindset for home builders that encompasses three primary dimensions: stability, strategy, and choice.  

People often consider stability to be at odds with agility, but in fact it’s the cornerstone of an agile mindset and business operation. Without clear goals and objectives (that is, stability), successfully navigating challenges is impossible and meaningless. It would be like using GPS without a destination in mind: you’re processing all sorts of real-time data, but you’re not doing anything with that data. 

In my experience, the builders that can shoulder the heaviest load of unknowns—the ones that can overcome obstacles without losing momentum—are the builders that will survive. (And not just survive, but undoubtably enjoy greater profitability in the long run, too.) That’s because these builders have a grasp of their objectives and they stick to those objectives—while having an agility-based mindset. 

RELATED

• Agility: Your Business's Antidote to Chaos (Part 1 in the series)
• Is Your Home Building Business Set Up for Agility? (Part 2)
• Business Metrics and the Imagination Age of Home Building

Agility: The Missing Link in Meeting Your Business Goals

If I asked the leaders of your company about their business plan, they would likely be able to rattle off the number of homes they intend to complete, company revenue, margins, expenses, net profit ... all the way down the line.  

And, if I were to ask how they’ll get there, they’d probably tell me about the team’s capabilities and about certain individuals who are skilled in their roles. 

And if I asked them about the challenges they face in achieving their business plan, I would get an earful of incredibly difficult problems they have to deal with every day.  

But here’s where it gets interesting: If I asked the team how they will meet their business goals and overcome those challenges, I would likely get blank stares. Agility is the how. 

How Do You Become an Agile Home Builder? 

For you to be a truly agile home builder, stability can't just be a concept at the highest level of leadership; agility must be embraced by all team members throughout the company.  

The team must not only understand what the objectives are—number of homes, cycle times, variance costs, customer satisfaction—but also how to make the necessary decisions to achieve those objectives, and they must be equipped with the tools that will enable them to adapt to unforeseen and unpredictable circumstances.  

The more volatile the market, the more critical it is to be agile. 

If you are a company leader, you must provide your team with everything they need for a stable environment and an agile mindset. This list includes the company objectives, time frames, rails for their decisions, and then the means to communicate proactively to all other stakeholders.  

The Link Between Business Agility and Stability

Stability over the long term involves repeatedly fostering clear objectives in predictable environments by having consistent and efficient operations, but it also requires agility because there's nothing predictable about our environment. The more volatile the market, the more critical it is to be agile. 

Only with an agile mindset can you repeatedly meet your company’s objectives. Agility is stability, and ensuring that your your business is agile at all levels of the organization is the right strategy for your team.