We reserve the word “scrappy” for people, teams, and organizations that operate effectively with limited resources.
Because they don’t enjoy abundant assets, scrappy leaders and organizations must generate creative solutions to solve problems that others throw people and money at.
Scrappy organizations make the most of what they have. It’s a hands-on and DIY (Do It Yourself) approach. The emphasis is on action over waiting for the perfect conditions or external validation. They typically fail fast, recover, and regroup with a new plan.
Because they have a “scrappy mindset,” they prefer unconventional solutions and ideas. This gives leaders and team members a scrappy swagger derived from ingenuity and tenacity.
Most organizations don’t decide to be scrappy. They evolve that way.
A history of facing adversity with scarce resources produces an uncommon grit. That doesn’t mean teams and organizations can’t become scrappy. While it’s most often a mindset born of necessity, it can be manufactured as well.
Scrappy organizations are resourceful and efficient. They value agility and speed over deliberation and circumspection. Risk-taking is considered essential for success, and leaders get highly involved with people and issues because they care deeply about quality.
As a rule, scrappy leaders care more about the mission and team impact than they do about their own status and position. This makes working inside a scrappy organization highly attractive to those who believe.
To foster a scrappy mindset, leaders model action over perfection and value empowerment over control. They insist that team members experiment and take calculated risks while treating failures as learning opportunities.
Scrappy leaders spend much of their day trying to remove barriers and obstacles that get in the way of new ideas.
How scrappy is your team and organization? Perhaps a healthy dose of this mindset would reinvigorate your workplace.
Just remember one thing: scrappy represents a stubborn resolve to operate with a “chip on the shoulder.” Once the chip is there, it is hard to knock off, even after great success.
A Daily Dispatch from the Front Lines of Leadership.
