Adaptability is an essential skill for business owners. Do you have it?

The ability to quickly learn anything new is adaptability.

Adaptability is a meta skill – the skill of learning new skills. 

It is critical for growth during change or any black swan event like this COVID-19 pandemic we all have been enduring for the past year and half.

COVID-19 has shown that we need to be resilient and adaptable if we want to survive. It’s not even growth and excellence that we are talking about. Only survival. On the lines of Darwin‘s survival of the fittest theory.

We must learn not just to endure but thrive in challenging circumstances.  Share on X

During the pandemic people have had to adapt thousand-years-old rituals like cremation and the way to grieve for them. We have known for centuries how to bury our dead and how to grieve for them with our friends and family. With travel and physical distancing restrictions in place, we all lost loved ones when we couldn’t go to them or others could not come to us. And hence we had to adapt to something as basic as grieving. 

People took to grieving online in different ways; anything that could move them towards some kind of closure.

The learning curve of an adaptable person is less steep, and hence less painful. If you are not yet convinced of the need to be adaptable, let me try once more. We need to be adaptable so that we can embrace change wholeheartedly.

But that brings us to another question.

Why do we need to change

Change is essential for professional, social and personal life/growth. As business leaders it’s even more crucial that you change in keeping with evolving market demands, consumer expectations, industry swings and the overall socio-political environment you operate in.

We need to embrace change so that:

• We are not left behind
• We do not turn obsolete
• We are relevant to those around us

How do you know that you need to adapt to new situations?

If you encounter any one or more of these, know that time has come for you to change:

• Terms that people around you use are new to you
• No one does things the way you do any more
• Colleagues are more productive by putting in lesser hours
• You are unable to hold your own during conversations

Be aware of the changes happening around you so that you are ready to change yourself when the time comes. But don’t let awareness paralyze you. Yes, the very thought of needing to change makes most people uncomfortable. Though, if you ask me, awareness of the need to change must facilitate transformation not stagnation.

Adaptability paradox

The resistance to adaptability also stems from the fact that change is always difficult to begin with. I have argued till now that we need to embrace change so that life is easier for us. We need to learn new skills, tools and practices to keep ahead of competition in professional life and at par with our children in personal lives.

Yes, it is a fact.

If you reflect upon it you will realize that kids know more about handling digital devices than us. Intuitively. Even before the pandemic happened and their online classes took their digital skills to the next level.

Coming back to adaptability, we need to change to make our lives easier. But learning that new skill or approach makes our life difficult in the beginning. This is the adaptability paradox. 

Adaptability is needed to make our life easier in the long run. But in the short term, it makes our life more difficult. If you are finding it difficult to change, check if you are falling prey to the adaptability paradox. And then fight it with determination. Imagine the final outcome you are aiming for and it will be easy.

Leaders who are adaptable succeed

Most people learn when there is a compelling reason to do so. Like better pay, better job, more recognition, etc. However, a leader, especially an adaptable one, is always on the lookout for newer avenues to learn, improve and grow. Learning something new every day is a way of life for them, which also makes them a better leader because they are equipped to help others when they need help.

Adaptability is primarily about mindset because it is the willingness to unlearn what you already know. You need to recognize that not everything can be better learnt on top of something else, like school level mathematics or science. There comes a time when you need to unlearn the old ways to adapt to the new ways.

Adaptability also means unlearning the old to learn the new. Share on X

As I said just now, adaptability is about mindset and you know that mindset changes do not happen in a day. They happen over a period of time with mindful effort.

I am listing some  daily practices that can help make your adaptability journey smoother.

Take care of your physical well-being

Taking care of your body is the most important part of being adaptable. If you are not physically healthy you cannot achieve much else.

Aim to sleep and exercise well every day and eat balanced, healthy and nutritious meals. When you are physically fit you can challenge your mind to take on whatever come your way.

Be mentally resilient

After a fit body you need to ensure a fit mind as well.

Practice mindfulness.

Observe your thoughts and actions like a fly on the wall, so that you can see what is preventing you from being flexible and adaptable. 

Look within and try to understand your thought processes. This will again help you in identifying bottlenecks to being adaptable.

Regular introspection is essential for an adaptable personality. Share on X

Have a goal

Set a goal for yourself in life and never let this purpose dilute. Whatever you do, the ultimate aim must be to reach the goal you have set for yourself.

For this you need to prioritize what you are doing, so that you cut out the fluff and do things that take you closer to your goals.

Nourish emotionally satisfying relationships

Having strong, emotionally satisfying relationships enhance your adaptability because you have a network of support systems to fall back on when you are stuck or fail.

If you are trying to adapt to something new and you fail, the feeling of failure can seem bigger than it actually is. But with your enthusiasm and tunnel vision you may forget this and harm yourself through feelings like stress, depression and feeling of worthlessness.

When you are surrounded with people who care about you and empathize with your struggles, they give you the strength to try again and again. Without the fear of failure.

Final thoughts on adaptability

Research has proved that humans are highly adaptable species. If you are not as adaptable as you would like to be, you can train yourself to be more adaptable. Start with the four areas I have listed above and see where it takes you.

This post was first published on August 11, 2021.