When we think of agility, we usually think of it in terms of physical functioning – our ability to move our bodies effectively and efficiently demonstrating balance, coordination, speed, strength, and endurance.
Agility also describes emotional skills and abilities that operate at the interface between us and the world around us. For physicians, this world is populated by patients, colleagues, staff, supervisors, and the organization. Agility enables us to execute the right reaction at the right time so that the results are consistent with our values and goals. Agility is critical to managing a physician burnout-promoting environment.
Agility Deconstructed
Deconstructing agility yields four distinct but interrelated processes – assessment, processing, action, and learning.
We must assess the people and situations presenting us with challenges to select the proper behavioral responses. Who are the key players? What other fundamental objectives? What organizational forces are at play? What are the available points of impact?
Processing relies heavily on the linkage with our self-awareness. First, if our decisions are to lead to fulfillment, they must align with our values. Second is managing the dynamic relationship between our thoughts, emotions, and behavior. We must be aware of the feelings which drive our behavior. We must be able to observe the degree to which they flow from our circumstances compared to the impact of our preconceived thoughts.
Processing modulates how we respond, enabling us to begin with a decision rather than a reflex or a habit (the enemies of agility). Decision-making is essential for agility and action, starting with stepping forward and effectively engaging the people or situations presenting our challenge.
Then comes initiating action with appropriate follow-through. The agility process outlined above must remain intact as the challenge changes. Remember, without change, there would be no need for agility. Getting to an endpoint consistent with our goals and values requires constant feedback into our thinking/feeling circuit to do the job effectively.
We can’t control the changes– the curveballs, pushback, obstacles, etc. But we can maintain our responses with knowledgeable flexibility (dodging, jumping, tackling, etc., resilience (picking yourself up), and steadiness (managing emotional response).
The final component is learning to enhance our agility continually. We must be willing and able to objectively examine what worked, what didn’t, and why. Again, the goal is to enhance our knowledge base as we continually process our thoughts, feelings, and behavior as they relate to our reality. As usual, learning constantly feeds back into the self-awareness dimension.
Getting Started
Developing flexibility, resilience, and steadiness of agility requires objective, nonjudgmental analysis.
Every week, perhaps as part of your journaling process, pick an essential challenging situation impacting you and subject it and your response to rigorous analysis.
Assessment: Take a wide shot at the situation. Examine it from multiple angles. What do the players say they want? Think about what they may wish to do; they may not even know. Where are the hurdles/landmines? Where are the opportunities?
Processing: What are your thoughts on the matter? What are your feelings toward this reality? To what extent are there attitudes and biases that may not derive directly from the situation?
Action: With a dynamic, unimpeded analysis of your thoughts and feelings, you can develop ideas of what behavioral choices you have, run scenarios, and make decisions on how you will act. Plan your moves and make them in the following week.
Learning: By consciously directing our actions, we can gain the knowledge necessary to assess our environment more accurately and make more effective decisions about reacting to it to achieve goals consistent with our values. Learning is the most essential product of journaling. How did your actions work out? Were there any preconceived notions at play in your response? What modifications must be made the following week to achieve your objectives?
