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Adaptability reigns supreme. The learning wielded from undergoing change keeps us on our toes by challenging our previously held assumptions and forcing us to act and react to change with greater resilience.
Whew! That was deep.
Here’s another way to look at it (where “it” refers to the “supremeness” of adaptability). Imagine where you would be if accepting change just wasn’t in your wheelhouse. Where would you be? Nowhere.
The critical quality of a leader that determines how that leader will fare in a crucible experience is adaptive capacity. Adaptive capacity allows leaders to respond quickly and intelligently to constant change. It is the ability to identify and seize opportunities. It allows leaders to act and then evaluate results instead of attempting to collect and analyze all the data before acting.
- Warren Bennis
People, teams and companies must embrace change if they want to move forward. To change is to learn; to learn is to succeed (feel free to tweet that) .
Adapting to changes in any environment requires two things: the skill to do so and the will to endure. An unexpectedly low earnings report can send your spirits down fast—along with your paycheck—so the degree to which you can manage yourself amidst unexpected turmoil will determine just how well you perform after receiving bad news. After all, nobody likes carrying pressure around with him or her all day.
To test your adaptive thinking capacity, try to determine how well you measure up against these three qualities of adaptive thinkers:
Adaptive Thinkers Show Impulse Control
If you haven’t heard of the marshmallow test, it bears repetition here. A study conducted at Stanford university aimed to measure delayed gratification in kids by offering them a marshmallow with the following caveat: they could eat the marshmallow now, or they could wait fifteen minutes for another marshmallow to show up and eat both—and therefore double their sugar intake.
Twenty plus years later, the results were astounding. Researchers tracked both groups of kids—the ones who gave in to the power of the marshmallow and the others who demonstrated ninja-like willpower—and discovered that the latter group scored higher on SATs and developed higher competencies than the former.
What’s the takeaway? Look before you leap. No, seriously. Having a strong impulse control allows you to think before you (re)act; it serves as a buffer between stimulus and response by creating space in between the two.
Adaptive Thinkers Leave Ego At The Door
The main obstruction to learning is oftentimes the unwillingness to unlearn—the fear of forgetting what worked so well for so long. A lack of humility also impedes receiving feedback. If you’re of the mindset that feedback is difficult to accept, then just ask yourself what will happen if you don’t hear it? A willingness to let go of previously held assumptions—and experiences for that matter—allow adaptive thinkers to continually hone their learning edge by flexing to the learning opportunity therein. Humility breeds curiosity (see next), and if there’s one thing that makes great leaders great, it’s asking powerful questions.
Adaptive Thinkers Are Curious
The only way to forego the old and adopt the new is to relinquish what you once believed to be true in exchange for what rings true now. Curiosity generates inquiry which wields problem-solving which finds results. Of course, make sure you use the right (positive) language when you talk to yourself—and don’t talk to yourself too loudly in public unless you’re comfortable with people thinking, or worse, knowing, you’re crazy.
Without adaptive thinking you remain rigid in your worldview and therefore limited in your potential. Remember, answers come to those who are curious enough to search, and stubborn enough to never accept a final conclusion .
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