Culture. As I attend conferences and work with organizations and executives, culture is the one topic that always seems to find its way into a conversation. As the combination of beliefs, perceptions and thoughts, culture has always been critical to the success of any individual, team or organization.

I’m fortunate to have lived in many different countries across the globe since my childhood, and the subject of culture has never been just a discussion — it’s a way of life. It’s an integral part of being and co-existing with others.

The culture challenge in today’s digital economy is meeting ever-changing customer demands, coordinating with teams across the globe, being agile to deliver solutions faster, all while sustaining a positive organizational culture in the chaos.

The good news is that many organizations are now becoming more accepting of the idea that teams can self-manage and find success in operating this way. Agile implementations, in various forms, are seeing positive results. However, it is a lot simpler to say you are agile because of a methodology or structure that is put in place than it is to be agile.

There are four qualities that not only define agility but are key to actually having an agile mindset:

1.    Balance: the ability not to fall whether you are standing still or moving.

2.    Speed: the ability to move quickly as a whole or in part.

3.    Strength: the ability for a group to overcome resistance.

4.    Coordination: the ability to move in coordination with multiple functions.

To not fall, move quickly, overcome resistance and coordinate, we must embed foundational behavioral changes into all parts of the organization.