Agility Begins With Humility
A humble habit for an unsettled world.
Posted January 5, 2026 | Reviewed by Gary Drevitch
There appears to be a recurring sentiment in the workplace and online that disruption is the new normal, accompanied by a growing sense of anomie, as familiar norms, pathways, and sources of stability lose their power. Traditional paths to success and economic stability appear to be crumbling; trust in institutions and information is nearly nonexistent, and the social identities we've embraced for ourselves don't carry the same weight they did 20 years ago. Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity have encroached upon every aspect of daily life. While these challenges cannot be diminished and will require multi-stakeholder and multi-faceted approaches to solve equitably, there is a humble habit we can practice to boost our own personal resilience in the face of disruption.
Agility refers to an individual’s capacity to learn from experience and adapt effectively to new, uncertain, or changing conditions. Rather than reacting impulsively, agile individuals engage in cycles of experimentation, feedback, and adjustment. In organizational and psychological research, agility is closely linked to learning orientation, adaptability, and iterative sensemaking ( Rigby et al., 2016 ).
Agility has become increasingly important as individuals face rapid tech advancements, shifting economic landscapes, and complex social environments. Agility can enhance resilience by enabling people to adjust their goals and expectations in response to changing circumstances. Professionally, it can allow individuals to remain effective amid uncertainty, navigate feedback, and grow rather than stall when routines are disrupted. Without agility, people are more likely to cling to outdated tactics, interpret feedback as a threat, and experience stress when things change. With agility, individuals can react to change more effectively and with greater well-being.
How Humility Supports Agility
Humility, particularly intellectual humility, plays a foundational role in agility. Intellectual humility involves recognizing the limits of one’s knowledge, remaining open to new evidence, and being willing to revise one’s beliefs ( Leary et al., 2017 ; Whitcomb et al., 2017 ). Agility requires learning, and learning requires letting go of the assumption that we already have the correct answers, a cornerstone of humility and humble practice.
Our current humble habit can help foster personal agility by utilizing discomfort as a source of data. Next time you feel overwhelmed by disruption or uncertainty, try this:
In a world where disruption feels relentless, humble agility offers a realistic path forward. We are not pretending the uncertainty isn’t real, but choosing a wiser way to meet it. By treating discomfort as data, you stop wasting energy fighting what you cannot control and start investing it in what you can influence. By naming the true point(s) of pain, distinguishing between controllable and uncontrollable variables, and conducting small, low-risk “tiny experiments,” you transform overwhelm into information and uncertainty into a learning cycle. Over time, this practice builds a steadier kind of resilience grounded in agility and the willingness to learn, adjust, and try again.
And lastly, humility requires that we acknowledge our interdependence and reliance on others. "No man is an island" and we cannot accomplish everything alone. Creating a community and incorporating others, such as family, friends, and coworkers, into your experiments can only multiply the learning and positive effects of your experiments.
Leary, M. R., Diebels, K. J., Davisson, E. K., Jongman-Sereno, K. P., Isherwood, J. C., Raimi, K. T., ... & Hoyle, R. H. (2017). Cognitive and interpersonal features of intellectual humility. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 43 (6), 793-813.
Le Cunff, A. L. (2025). Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World . Penguin Group.
Rigby, D. K., Sutherland, J., & Takeuchi, H. (2016). Embracing agile . Harvard Business Review, 94(5), 40–50.
Whitcomb, D., Battaly, H., Baehr, J., & Howard-Snyder, D. (2017). Intellectual humility: Owning our limitations. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research , 94 (3), 509-539.
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Kelly G. Manix, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Management at Middle Tennessee State University’s Jones College of Business studying humility, ethics, and moral leadership.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.