Adaptability is a core part of my mission to help organisations to create communities in which people thrive together. As I shared at the end of last year, I was one of the first coaches globally to complete my Professional Certification in AQ.
With this in mind, I am committing regular posts to share a range of insights focusing on this important topic. I will be sharing some of my own thinking and stories, articles and research, and if I am brave enough, I may even create the odd video….
But why adaptability?
The organisational paradigms of the 20th century will no longer lead to success as we navigate our way through the 21st century. Many of the challenges we face do not have clearly defined solutions. We must respond to complex problems that are changing as we attempt to address them.
As technology continues to develop at an accelerated pace, tasks that were once thought to be reserved for humans are increasingly being carried out by machines. Globalization, demographic, and geopolitical transformations are having a significant impact on the work landscape.
Employee expectations are changing, and organisations need to re-define success much more broadly — considering collaboration, learning, well-being, and sustainability, with flexibility in when, where, and how people work.
In all the uncertainty surrounding the future, one thing is clear: accelerated change is constant within the workplace. And those who have the capability to adapt will be the ones who thrive.
Numerous studies have identified that adaptability is increasingly important for individuals, teams, and organisations. Adaptability is a critical success factor during periods of transformation and systemic change. It allows us to be faster and better at learning, and it orients us toward the opportunities ahead, not just the challenges.
Yet the same conditions that make adapting so important can also trigger fear, making us default to familiar patterns or whatever solutions worked the last time. Even positive events, such as receiving a promotion or starting a new project, can turn negative.
If adaptability is so important to success:
- Can we develop adaptability?
- If so, how?
Research by AQai - Adaptability Assessments & Coaching has identified key dimensions of Adaptability. This research used a combination of review and assessment of leading scientific publications, together with reliable measurement using principles of psychology and behavioural science. The main dimensions of adaptability are Ability, Character and Environment, broken down into a number of sub-dimensions, each of which can be assessed, and many optimised and improved.
With this series of posts, I aim to encourage thinking and an exchange of ideas about how we enhance our adaptability to thrive in an environment of change.
