Change seems constant in life and business. Orthodontics is experiencing some radical change in both our clinical direction and the business side of the specialty. Responding to change can be a critical aspect of the future success of our practices. By taking a journey into an agile business transformation, orthodontic practices can become more productive, more responsive, and stronger in the face of change.
When we look at organizations as they grow and develop, they often follow paths in creating an environment characterized as Trapped, Start-up, Bureaucratic, or Agile. Each of these categories differs in their use of dynamic practices or stable practices.
Start-up practices: highly dynamic, low stability
As they grow, some businesses evolve into a continual Start-up mindset and sacrifice stability for a constant shift in focus. These practices can often focus so much on the change that they lack the efficiencies needed to thrive. There can be a continual focus on external factors, continual growth, and the next best thing. What is often lacking is a focus on process and strategy.
Bureaucratic practices: highly stable, low dynamic
Many businesses develop a more bureaucratic approach, where stability and efficiency become paramount. This tendency to follow rigid discipline helps internally in the short-term but focuses heavily on standardization, risk aversion, and silos within the organization. The challenge comes from this rigidity in a changing world. This approach tends to take away the ability to change and adapt to the environment that offers the greatest opportunity.
Trapped practices: low stability and low dynamic
The worst approach tends to be within Trapped organizations, where there is a lack of dynamism and stability. These organizations are often characterized in the public sector and government but can plague an orthodontic practice. The largest issues come from a tribal mentality, internal politics, in-fighting, and individuals working to protect their turf instead of collaborating.
Agile practices: highly dynamic and highly stable
The journey to an Agile practice offers benefits in an organization being nimble and accelerates the learning cycle and decision-making. Agile organizations are stable and dynamic. This mix allows for better business outcomes, leading to greater predictability, productivity, innovation, and better care.
Dynamic practices enable companies to respond nimbly and quickly to new challenges and opportunities, while stable practices cultivate reliability and efficiency by establishing a backbone of elements that don’t need to change frequently. — “How to create an agile organization” by Olli Salo
One goal with Agile practices is to increase the dynamic range of an orthodontic practice. Dynamic approaches have greater responsiveness and adaptation. The other purpose of Agile methods is also to improve stability. Stable processes allow for greater efficiency, productivity, reliability, and scale.
To become an Agile Organization, consider the context of where your practice is currently existing—work toward shifting the culture and vision of the business into greater dynamic and stable work.
