10 Principles of Agile Results

Principles are simply a set of guiding rules.

Here are the key principles for Agile Results:

Principle #1 – 80/20 Action.

Rather than spend 80 percent stuck in analysis and only 20 percent doing, it’s about shifting to spend 80 percent of your time in action.

Principle #2 – Change Your Approach.

Tune and adjust as you go. If it’s not working, let it go.

Principle #3 – Continuous Learning.

As you change and as things change around you, use your learning to improve your results.

Principle #4 – Flow Incremental Value.

Find a way to flow value. Chunking up your results helps you build momentum.

It also helps you build credibility with yourself and others. Rather than wait for a big bang at the end, you can flow value.

Principle #5 – Less Is More.

Bite off what you can chew and reduce work that’s in flight.

Principle #6 – Factor Action from Reference.

You should keep your action items separate from reference.

This helps reduce the signal-to-noise ratio.

Principle #7 – Set Boundaries.

Set boundaries in terms of time or energy.

Consider boundaries for the following Hot Spots: mind, body, emotions, career, financial, relationships, and fun.

The key is to have a minimum in some categories and a maximum in others.

Principle #8 – Fix Time, Flex Scope.

Treat time as a first-class citizen.

First set time boundaries.

Next, bite off what you can chew within those boundaries.

Principle #9 – Rhythm of Results.

Focus on daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly results.

Building a rhythm builds a habit that you don’t have to think about.

The habit becomes a ritual that produces a feeling of accomplishment.

Principle #10 – Version Your Results.

You can improve your results on each pass.

Version 3 will be better than version 2 which will be better than version 1.

This helps you fight perfectionism and produce incremental results.