It seems as though our world is in a constant state of flux. Everything has sped up in a way that forces our brains to deal with an unprecedented rate of change in almost every aspect of our lives; from family dynamics, to personal relationships, to our workplace or even the modus operandi of our work. 

When we need to change and learn new things, ironically we often stick to the familiar. We tend to fall back on our default positions because these offer us protection from our fears of the unknown, the new, or what is different. Thus, we can hinder our ability to shift our mindset and navigate uncertain situations that might generate discovery, exploration or open our imagination to new possibilities and ways of doing and being. We need adaptability to live with the flux and it’s important we try to react to the inevitability of change in a positive way.

Change brings possibilities 

Just the other day I heard someone say “we have to make peace with reality.” Whatever our reality is now, we need to find the courage to face it and work with it. However, maybe part of this involves changing our whole approach to change - to be adaptable. To consider that change can energise and invigorate us. Change can be empowering; it can reveal surprising new talents and capacities that we may not have been aware of. Change can help us develop new skills we thought we would never achieve. It decapitates a rigid mentality and instead, opens our horizons to new ideas, new mindsets and fresh ways of doing things, rather than relying on the default again.

Why is adaptability important?

When we do have to face change, there is no doubt that adaptability becomes a crucial life skill, in both our personal and professional lives, but we can either embrace it or reject it freely. Adaptability gives us the power to make the right decisions, to move forward and exercise more control over our emotions, and perhaps search out different solutions to problems and challenges. 

Some people describe adaptability as a form of intelligence, while others call it a muscle. Adaptability certainly involves effort and work and exercise, and we can’t be too surprised if it takes time to acquire - if it needs to be flexed every now and then.

Adaptability in practice 

In every business, enterprise or organisation, adaptive leadership is required to deal adequately with the various challenges and situations that occur. We are all leaders in some way even though we might not necessarily want to be! Some days our work can take a completely different direction to what we had planned, and so adaptability is absolutely necessary.

In the home too, parents are role models for their children. Mothers and fathers are leaders in their homes when it comes to nurturing, caring for and educating their children. As time goes on parents need to be flexible and know what is important and what to discard or discount in terms of their family priorities and values.

Can I learn to be more adaptable?

How many times have we allowed our imaginations to roam, on various possibilities? What if I were to win the Lottery today? What if I were to lose all the money in my bank account? What if I were to wake up with a strange and dangerous disease?

These things are highly unlikely to happen but these possibilities force our mind to imagine multiple versions of the future. And doing this lets us see how we can manipulate and use information and facts suitably to change and develop, instead of just passively accepting that things simply happen in a predictable manner. We can have a whole new situation and scenario played out in our heads in a matter of moments, so it is possible to transfer that skill to real life.

So what can I do?

Here are five final takeaways to help us become more adaptable:

• Try to instil a culture of continuous learning within ourselves. Examine ourselves frequently on how we are moving from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset - where everything is an opportunity to learn and develop.

• Look to others to learn from them, not compare. We may not be another Einstein or Aristotle, but we can learn from everything and every one and find our own niche comfortably and steadily. 

• Set realistic expectations for ourselves and be humble when we cannot live up to them all the time. 

• Infuse exploration into our life and our work - be prepared to be curious.

• Remember that people matter more than things, and when we put people first we can get things done more efficiently.

Change can be hard, and we might find ourselves resisting it, especially when it is forced upon us by circumstances outside our control. We might not be able to control everything but we can control how we react in order to adapt!