Has the Definition of Agility Shifted?

Agility has always been about adaptability, continuous improvement, and responding effectively to change. What does agility truly mean when the world is constantly shifting? Imagine a company navigating rapid market shifts, technological disruption, or a sudden global crisis—Agility becomes more than a talking point; it becomes the difference between thriving, surviving, and becoming irrelevant.

Do we need new methods to tackle today’s challenges, or is it time to return to tried-and-true principles?

Context: Agility in Times of Crisis

The past few years have tested organizations' resilience. For example, the retail industry rapidly shifted to e-commerce in response to lockdowns, healthcare providers adopted telemedicine at scale, and manufacturers faced supply chain disruptions requiring agile sourcing strategies. These real-world shifts show that agility goes beyond processes—it's a strategic capability that drives adaptability and results.

At Agile Academy, we believe agility isn’t tied to a single framework. Frameworks like Scrum, Kanban, or SAFe provide structures, but the essence of agility lies in continuous improvement and adaptability. For example, Scrum’s retrospective encourages teams to refine their processes. Over time, this may lead teams to adopt practices that look quite different from the original framework. And that’s okay. The goal is evolution, not rigid adherence.

Emerging Trends: The Rise of Founder Mode

A significant trend reshaping leadership and agility discussions is founder mode, a concept highlighted by Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb. Chesky believes many business leaders don’t truly understand their own companies, and this disconnect is a major problem. He explains:

“The most important question isn't, ‘Is the CEO the founder?’ It's, ‘Does the CEO understand deeply, more than anybody else in the company, the product they sell?’”

Effective leaders, according to Chesky, are deeply involved in both the product and customer experience—what he calls being "in the details." This challenges the traditional management belief that CEOs should simply hire great people and delegate.

Importantly, founder mode is not limited to founders. Any leader can adopt this mindset by developing a deep understanding of both the product and the customers they serve.

For a clearer understanding of founder mode, Paul Graham’s insights on how founders think, act, and drive innovation provide valuable context for Chesky’s approach. Graham highlights the relentless curiosity and problem-solving mindset that founders need—qualities that align perfectly with the principles of agility. You can read Paul Graham's full post on founder mode here: Paul Graham - Founder Mode

Case in Point: Chesky’s approach at Airbnb—where he shifted from traditional “manager mode” to a balanced customer- and product-centric leadership style—helped Airbnb achieve industry-leading free cash flow margins. His leadership transformation, inspired by Steve Jobs’ return to Apple, underscores how agility starts with leaders who understand and care deeply about both the customer journey and product value.

Founder Mode vs. Manager Mode

Understanding the contrast between founder mode and manager mode is crucial for fostering agility:

• Founder Mode: Leaders engage deeply at all levels, ensuring alignment through direct involvement rather than relying solely on hierarchical reporting. They act as chief customer advocates while maintaining a clear vision of product excellence.
• Manager Mode: Leaders operate through formal structures and reporting lines, treating organizational divisions as independent units. While scalable, this approach often leads to silos and disconnects from the customer’s core needs and product coherence.

Founder mode is not about resisting delegation but about smart involvement. The CEO’s deep customer and product knowledge ensures cohesive decision-making, enabling autonomy without losing alignment.

Agility in Practice: From Principles to Action

While transparency, inspection, and adaptation remain the core of agility, applying these principles effectively requires going beyond frameworks. Common pitfalls include rigidly sticking to processes like Scrum when rapid, asynchronous feedback loops could accelerate outcomes, or granting teams "ownership" without clear decision rights, causing micromanagement and delays.

Leaders must enable true autonomy through defined budgets for experimentation and foster alignment by integrating marketing, design, and development in shared sprint goals. Practical agility means running stakeholder demos tied directly to key metrics like customer satisfaction, immersing leadership in regular customer interactions to uncover real friction points, and ensuring distributed teams collaborate seamlessly through regular cross-team demos.

Ultimately, agility isn’t about ticking boxes—it’s about evolving processes that genuinely improve speed of decision making and delivery, customer alignment, and product quality.

Final Thoughts: Driving Agility Through Unified Customer and Product Focus

Agility isn’t static, and neither is our understanding of it. As Brian Chesky’s experiences illustrate, shifting from a detached management style to founder mode leadership—rooted in a unified customer and product focus—can redefine how companies scale and sustain success. After all, understanding your customers deeply and striving for product excellence are not competing priorities—they’re two sides of the same coin.

Leaders who seamlessly integrate customer insights with product innovation build organizations that are both agile and resilient. While frameworks may evolve, the foundation remains: alignment, autonomy, and adaptability.

Ultimately, agility is a journey of continuous learning. By combining proven principles with emerging leadership patterns like founder mode, we can adapt and thrive together—no matter what comes next.