This archive report was first published on 30 June 2020.
As the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, young entrepreneurs are facing unprecedented challenges. However, a recent report by the Central Bank of Kenya has offered a glimmer of hope, highlighting increases in diaspora remittances, exports, and horticultural products sales.
June 30, 2020
Young entrepreneurs must now adapt and embrace agile execution to survive the uncertain future. This involves shifting from a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous (VUCA) environment to a Visible, Unrelenting, Concentrated, and Actionable (VUCAgility) one.
Embracing agility requires transforming employees and institutional culture, rather than just systems, structure, and processes. This change will unlock potential, engage employees, and equip them to create a better future.
Agile execution principles, such as rapid adaptation, cross-functional integration, empowered teams, and transparent views of working versions, are essential for young entrepreneurs to stay relevant. Agility is not a goal in itself, but a means to an end, allowing customers to respond better and faster to changes, increasing efficiency and effectiveness, and attracting and retaining talent.
By introducing agility and ensuring entrepreneurial ventures grow with it integrated, young entrepreneurs can eliminate recurring routine activities and convert them to real-time systems, allowing time and attention to business-critical items. This will help protect employees from initiatives that do not deserve high priority and focus on those with greatest value and opportunities.
Young entrepreneurs must lead their employees with questions and not orders, helping them evolve from silos battling for power and resources into collaborative cross-functional teams.
As we live in a VUCA world, having an agile mindset is crucial. Excellent agile execution is more critical in a crisis like the one we are in today, and young entrepreneurs who learn, integrate, and lead agile execution into their business activities will accelerate profitable growth during and post-COVID-19.
