Adaptability ranks as one of the — if not THE — most in-demand skills for workers and by employers. McKinsey calls adaptability the one skill everyone needs more of.
Over the course of the past few years, I’ve been banging the same drum: First recognizing the vital importance of adaptability as a core competency and organization-wide foundation for a successful transformation. Next, compiling a set of market-proven principles for adaptability into the Adapt Manifesto. And then digging even deeper into the competencies that comprise adaptability and earning a certification in AQ (adaptability quotient) assessments from AQai.
But for many, the question remains:
What is adaptability?
While many have offered their own definitions over the years (although very much in the spotlight right now, adaptability is hardly a new concept), I find the concept is often confused for agility, resilience, or another related but different competency. So, I wanted to offer up my own definition. To me:
Adaptability is the ability to respond proactively (even preemptively), quickly, and appropriately to change or uncertainty as they happen in the environment in which you operate, so that you can thrive in that changing/changed environment.
If adaptability is an essential skill for work and life in the Never Normal, the good news is that it is not a fixed or finite resource. AQ comprises a set of competencies that are learned and can be grown over time. Just like a muscle, the more you exercise it the stronger it gets. In a world that will change more in the next 10 years than it has in the past 100, and in which disruption will come from all directions, understanding, measuring, building, and exercising your adaptability is essential to your ability to thrive.
So, how can you increase your own AQ?
First, be sure to check out the Adapt Manifesto. The seven values and 10 principles provide a framework for thinking about change in the modern organization and a set of specific mindsets and behaviors you can adopt for yourself and endorse for your team. None of them are ‘hard’ to do — yes, they require focus and effort (and maybe a bit of courage) but all practical and achievable by design. (Be sure to sign the Manifesto to show your support.)
Second, consider taking an AQ assessment. While the Adapt Manifesto provides an action plan of sorts for bringing adaptability into your work, team, and organization, a personal or team assessment will provide a rich understanding of your current base state for adaptability and a solid sense of how your areas of strength and opportunities for development shape the way you respond to change.
Together, an AQ assessment and the Adapt Manifesto can provide a basis for a know-then-do course of action. Interested in learning more? Get in touch.
