Hey, it's Rachel Cook, your modern mentor. And today, we're talking about agility. Because if you're like a lot of people I know, you know it's important. You're just not entirely sure what agility is or how to do it. So let's dive into the what, why, and how of being agile at work.

Hiring leaders love buzzwords.

Years ago, when I worked in HR, strategic thinking was all the rage.

Suddenly it caught on and it became a key qualification in every job description.

But what actually defines strategic thinking?

And how do you know when someone's doing it? Turns out, these were the million-dollar questions. Years later, strategic thinking

is a little passeh, but agility is hot stuff. If you can demonstrate agility, then leaders are

looking to hire or promote you. But what actually is agility?

And how do you know if you're doing it?

Luckily for many of us, it has nothing to do with physical agility.

No one is expecting you to be able to run a mile in under eight minutes.

In a work context, agility is described in various ways.

But personally, I like Gallup's framing, which describes

agility as an employee's capacity to gather and disseminate information about changes in the

environment and respond to that information quickly and expediently. It's about keeping up,

taking quick action and being comfortable shifting direction on a moment's notice. And given that

normalcy and stability are on short supply, this feels pretty important right now. So let's walk

through a simple agility framework I like to use. It'll keep you moving, changing direction,

and achieving in increments. I've even got an example for you. Years ago when I worked in corporate

HR, I was asked to refresh our employee onboarding program. It was a big undertaking with major

stakes, and I wanted to get it right. So I decided to take a fresh approach. Rather than diving

deeply into research and planning months and years ahead, I leaned into agility, and it served

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