Adaptability

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change." -  Charles Darwin

The world as we know it is ever changing. This has been quite the year of disruption. And because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are experiencing massive amounts of change, and changing ever so quickly. Changes to how we live and how we work. Families are forced to adjust to having to work from home, and supporting their children who are also doing their schooling from home. Businesses are changing how they do business, and trying to adjust to all of this disruption. Businesses that are lacking the flexibility to adapt, are finding themselves failing. 

As individuals, in order to successfully navigate in today's ever changing and fast-paced world, we have to stay flexible and be open and willing to change. Adaptability means being able to adjust to any situation at any given time and also consider the best approach for each particular situation. We need to be able to adapt and readjust quicker than ever before. New ideas, new technologies, new ways of thinking and doing things. 

Whether it's our approach to work or home life, we need to work on developing our adaptability skills and adjusting to our environment. In the workplace, being adaptable in your career can mean you are able to respond quickly to changing ideas, responsibilities, expectations, trends, strategies and other processes at work. Being adaptable in the workplace can be important when working on projects, developing strategies and implementing different approaches to doing your job. It may encompass trying new things and learning new skills. Additionally, developing your adaptability can also mean developing other soft skills like communication, interpersonal and teamwork skills, as well as your creative thinking and problem-solving skills. Focusing on building and improving your skillset in these areas will help you deal with change in a positive, proactive and productive way.

Here's some ways to work on these areas: 

Work on strengthening your communication and interpersonal skills. You need to be able to effectively communicate with your teammates and leaders. Active listening and other forms of communication like nonverbal communication are also equally important aspects of adaptability. Active listening shows you are attentive and ready to take new direction, and developing your nonverbal communication skills can help you navigate changes in team relationships or dynamics in the workplace. Being able to interact with others in healthy and positive ways can help you avoid miscommunication and conflict during operational shifts. If sharing your ideas with your colleagues is something that makes you anxious, you could set a goal to contribute to team meetings and collaborations.

Work on building your teamwork skills. Teamwork skills can be an essential factor in being able to adapt to different personalities and working dynamics. Your team can be a combination of different skillsets, backgrounds and experiences. Being able to work with a diverse team of people and deal with conflict, differing ideas and other dynamics that can occur can positively benefit how adaptive you are in a team environment.

Work on developing your creative and strategic thinking skills and problem solving skills. Adaptability can also require creative thinking and the ability to think strategically. For instance, developing new ideas to market products, finding ways to adapt to a changing market and implementing methods to improve and develop new strategies can all showcase your overall adaptability skills. Adapting to change will also require relying on problem-solving skills. You might use your problem-solving skills to find creative solutions to challenging topics, and being able to observe and analyze how you might approach solving a new problem can show your managers your willingness to make adjustments or improvements to the way you approach solving problems at work.

Being adaptable and open to change isn't always easy. Here are some things to consider when working on improving your adaptability skills:

1. Start small, but think big. Implementing teeny-tiny changes, one step at a time are non-intimidating, and an easy way to get started. Doing all the little things, eventually add up to big changes, and you may be surprised at the size of impact they can make. Starting small is better than not starting at all. By starting small you can gain momentum which will help carry you on to, and through the bigger things.
2. Pay attention, and be aware of changes within your environment. The more in tune you are with what is going on around you, the easier it will be to identify and anticipate areas to focus on. This is a proactive way to stay in front of change.
3. Develop a growth mindset. Be willing to learn and try new things. Developing a growth mindset can positively influence your ability to take on new challenges, find new opportunities to develop your knowledge and contribute to new projects.
4. Solicit feedback from others around you.  Seek ways to improve your performance and your skillset. 
5. Learn to embrace change. Let yourself accept change as it occurs. Anticipate it and prepare yourself for it. Learning how to be willing to accept change can be an effective step toward recognizing when you need to make adjustments to make transitions smoother for yourself.
6. Get organized. When you maintain an organized work area, paperwork and other aspects of your job, you can be better prepared in the event that operational changes happen at work. Try getting all aspects of your work organized, such as documents, required paperwork, projects and other work information, so you're prepared in case there are transitions within your job.
7. Be creative. You might request opportunities to work on tasks that may be new to you or offer to take on responsibilities that require creative approaches.
8. Set goals that can help you develop your adaptability skills. For instance, if you feel you might to work on your nonverbal communication or you tend to procrastinate when expected to complete challenging tasks, you might set a goal to work on each aspect of your skills so you can improve your overall ability to adapt to changes in the workplace.

The one certainty we have is that things will continue to change. The only constant is change. It is up to you to be adaptable. Because with action and adaptability, comes opportunity.

Make Today Great!

Curtis

"Adaptability is about the powerful difference between adapting to cope and adapting to win. All failure is failure to adapt, all success is successful adaptation." - Max McKeown