Speed ≠ Agility

Velocity gets talked about all the time in agile organizations. We love to measure it, we love to use it for estimation, and we seem to think that increases in velocity mean that we are getting better at being agile.

 It doesn't.

 Speed and agility are not the same.

 Think about it from a real-world perspective.

A sprinter focuses on speed. They know exactly where they are going, and they need to get there as fast as they can. They work hard to remove any waste in their movements, perfect their timing, and focus all their attention on the finish line.

A football player (American) must be agile. They must collaborate with their team, observe the constantly changing situation on the field, and change tactics at a moment's notice when an opportunity arises. If you watch a quarterback, they often don't move at all at first. They assess, looking for the best opportunity. They run many plays, testing to see what will work. And when they finally move, it is rarely in a straight line. Their most crucial skill is their ability to change direction faster than the other team.

Speed is important for a football player too, sometimes. But it is only when they know they have a clear path ahead that their tactics have proven to work, that they can put their heads down and charge at full speed. But if football players only had speed and not agility, they would never even create the conditions to go fast.

How does this relate to business? If you want to go fast in a way that actually benefits your business, you have to slow down, to make room for agility. You must test, you must experiment, and you must train to pivot on a dime when an opportunity arises. This is called innovation – and the goal is learning.

Agility is about discovering the right things to do and taking advantage of those opportunities. The goal is learning and flexibility.

Think about the sprinter. How fast could they actually go if they kept changing direction? If they don't slow down, they will fall flat on their face. And, speed is limited. How much faster can they really go? The average person can sprint at a little over 18 mph. The fastest human in the world can't even hit 28mph, that's about a 35% increase.

Speed is about execution, and the goal of execution is about getting anything done. There is a built-in assumption that we have learned all we need. In the real world though, where technology, trends, sentiments, and competition are constantly changing, the path ahead is almost never clear. Even in the most stable businesses, we have to pick our heads up, look around, and learn.

Speed is about doing things fast. The goal is getting something done quickly, even if it might not be the right thing.

Bottom line: If it were me, I would focus a whole lot more on agility than speed to be effective in business.