To avoid this trap, leaders must work on transforming their relationship with change and uncertainty by building adaptability as an evergreen skill that benefits themselves and their organizations at a deeper level. Gilbert, “Unbundling the structure of inertia: Resource versus routine rigidity,” Academy of Management Journal, October 2005, Volume 48, Number 5, pp.

When that motivation arrives, it’s often accompanied by pressure-to avert failure, for instance, or to attain a high-stakes reward or incentive. Even positive events, such as receiving a promotion or beginning a new workstream, can turn negative unless we can maintain a learning mindset while under pressure.īut people often don’t put in the hard work of learning and mastering something new unless there is compelling motivation to do so. We call this the “adaptability paradox”: when we most need to learn and change, we stick with what we know, often in a way that stifles learning and innovation. 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. It allows us to be faster and better at learning, and it orients us toward the opportunities ahead, not just the challenges. Our research shows that adaptability is the critical success factor during periods of transformation and systemic change. By becoming aware of and open to change now, we can maintain control over uncertainty before pressures build to the point where altering course is much more difficult, or even futile. It’s not so much a skill as a meta-skill-learning how to learn and being conscious of when to put that learner’s mind into action.

Adaptability is the ability to learn flexibly and efficiently and to apply that knowledge across situations.

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