With the rate of change accelerating at an almost dizzying pace, becoming more adaptable isn’t just a growth opportunity—it’s a survival skill . Between 2019 and 2023, the rate of change affecting business has skyrocketed 183%, with nearly 90% of C-Suite leaders anticipating that the rate of change will accelerate even more.
No wonder it feels like we can hardly keep up!
Amid this relentless rate of change, discovering and building your Adaptability Quotient (AQ) can be essential for managing the stress associated with the Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity (VUCA) surrounding us.
But what exactly is an AQ, and how is it assessed? In this series, we’ll explain the research-based A.C.E. Model behind AQai’s AQme assessment to help you understand what’s being measured and what the metrics in the AQme report mean for individuals and their organizations.
The A.C.E. Model, developed by AQai, measures AQ across three core dimensions—Ability, Character and Environment—each comprised of five subdimensions that, in aggregate, define that dimension. In the AQme assessment, each subdimension is scored based on the individual’s perception of themselves or various situations. Those subdimension scores are then rolled up into an overall score for that dimension and, finally, aggregated to arrive at a total AQ score.
Before we dive in, it’s important to note that the AQ score results are based on a few fundamental premises:
- The AQ score is assessed within the context of business and the individual’s role, not as an overall judgment of the individual.
- The score assesses how an individual reacts during times of uncertainty, ambiguity and change and is not meant to define the individual.
- The score is a snapshot in time and can change as an individual learns new skills and adaptations.
- There are no “good” or “bad” AQ scores. It’s simply an assessment, not a judgment.
It’s also worth pointing out that each dimension is scored on a continuum, with extremes on each end and plenty of variability in the middle. We’ll focus on the endpoints of the scale here for illustration—the low vs. high—but it’s easy to see how an individual would score somewhere in between.
With this in mind, let’s dive into the first dimension:
Ability: How and to what degree do I adapt?
AQ Ability measures your inherent skills to respond to change effectively. Like any other ability, these are skills you can develop through coaching to improve your resilience, ability to face new challenges with confidence, grow professionally and thrive in ever-changing circumstances.
AQ Ability has 5 sub-dimensions:
1. Grit – Your ability to persevere, stay the course and follow through when tackling important goals.
Those with a lot of grit are driven, dedicated, and not easily discouraged. They’re the “buckle down and power through” types: passionate, confident and determined. Those on the low end are prone to giving up—they’re often unable to see tasks through or stick to their goals.
2. Mental Flexibility – Your ability to accept, appreciate and embrace competing demands or challenges.
Those with high mental flexibility are often innovative, creating new solutions and adapting quickly. They’re able to switch gears easily and learn from friction. Highly flexible people are also content with contradictions and able to manage competing goals and present new perspectives. Those with low flexibility tend to feel frazzled constantly, struggle to manage competing demands and prefer to follow a single goal or linear plan.
3. Mindset – Your outlook on change and whether it will result in positive or negative outcomes.
Those with a high mindset are optimistic, view new situations as opportunities, can quickly adapt and confidently pursue their goals. On the opposite end of the spectrum, low-mindset individuals have a pessimistic outlook around change and a negative attitude toward goals. They avoid change and see little value in it or adapting to it.
4. Resilience – Your capacity to recover quickly from challenges or setbacks.
Whereas grit is your ability to stay committed to objectives in the face of adversity, resilience measures your ability to recover from setbacks and challenges when they occur. Some call it your ability to “bounce back.” Where grit involves consistency, resilience is more about your reaction to dynamic situations. Highly resilient people tend to recover quickly, are motivated by challenges and see them as growth opportunities. They’re less likely to stress and experience burnout and more open to radical transformation. Those with low resilience are shell-shocked by change and take a long time to recover from setbacks. They’re much less likely to try new things and prefer stability—change is stressful.
5. Unlearn – Your capacity to intentionally let go of previous or outdated knowledge or beliefs and reassess situations based on new data.
The ability to unlearn paves the way for new ideas and approaches and breeds agility. Highly adaptable individuals relish learning, exploring and experimentation and are open to changing their opinions, behaviors and habits when new information or circumstances are presented. On the low end, less adaptable people stick with what they know. They take comfort in the status quo and are sometimes considered stubborn—their confidence often comes from currently held knowledge and change feels threatening to their position of authority.
AQ Ability generally examines “how” you adapt—the inherent traits that you bring to changes and challenges. The AQme Report provides relative scoring based on the majority of people who have taken the assessment to indicate where you fall in relationship to your peers. Understanding your AQ Ability is the first step to maximizing your adaptability and unlocking your growth potential.
In the next installment, we’ll cover the AQ Character dimension and how your inherent traits support your adaptability.
If you’re ready to get started with an AQme assessment for yourself or your team, contact us today.