Building Resilience & Change Readiness for an Uncertain Future
“Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.”
This insight from the great leadership strategist John Maxwell has perhaps never been truer—or more urgent—than it is now.
The modern business environment is nothing short of a whirlwind, and the rate of change is only accelerating every year. One moment, just when you start to think you have a handle on things, you blink, and suddenly, it’s a whole new ballgame. By this time next year, everything you thought you knew about the economy, your competitors, your business and talent strategy, the geopolitical climate, the supply chain—everything—could be completely different.
Already more than half of surveyed executives (Source: Accenture) say they’re not fully prepared to respond to change. And with Generative AI completely disrupting every business sector, you can expect more leaders, companies and individual workers to be caught flatfooted.
All that is to say: change is happening fast, regardless of whether you and your organization are prepared for it. Rather than being a bystander—or worse, a victim—of change, the only way to succeed is to embrace it.
Even better? Lead it.
Learning to be Adaptable, both as an organization and as an individual, is crucial to being the pilot instead of merely a passenger in your own future. Developing and practicing Adaptability as a skill (Source: Competitive Edge, Inc.)—just like public speaking, writing a sales pitch or refining your pickleball swing—is essential. While some people have natural tendencies that make them more resilient in the face of change and uncertainty, every person and every organization can improve their Adaptability Intelligence. It just takes some baseline awareness and coaching.
For organizations, Adaptability is essential for survival. It can also be key in helping them to thrive through volatility and uncertainty, master complexity, and rise above ambiguity to lead.
Developing Adaptability Intelligence Allows Your Organization to:
Respond to Changing Demands
Whether it’s your competitors, AI, or tariffs on imported raw materials, the ability to adjust strategy is essential. Too often, businesses prepare for known variables but are blindsided by the unknown: Who could have predicted a global pandemic, a ship getting stuck in the Suez Canal or the meteoric rise of AI? When the unexpected is the only sure thing on the agenda, Adaptability is non-negotiable.
Innovate
Without the ability to adapt, companies cannot deliver novel products or services, experiment and push boundaries—all things essential for staying relevant in the market. If you freeze under pressure, avoid risks at all costs, or cling to the status quo, you will get left behind.
Accelerate a Calculated Response
As outside forces push you further out of your comfort zone, the time frame for response gets tighter. You can’t put your head in the sand, but you also don’t want to be in panic mode. Instead, fostering Adaptability Intelligence helps your organization to be mentally and emotionally prepared, to make effective and informed decisions under pressure and to move swiftly but smartly. Think about it like shifting gears in your car, with or without a clutch: one way will be smooth and seamless, and the other is herky-jerky and takes a devastating toll on the equipment—i.e., your employees.
Retain and Engage Talent
Right now, one-third of employees are resistant to change (Source: Oak Engage), and 41% say mistrust in the organization is the top reason for their resistance. Considering that more employees plan to leave their employer (Source: PWC) in the coming year than during the Great Resignation (Source: Pew Research), organizations must quickly figure out how to adapt to their employees’ expectations or risk a talent exodus.
Optimize Talent Strategy and Teaming
Understanding the conditions in which people are most adaptable allows you to put people in the right roles at the right time. This “just-in-time teaming” supports the rapid response we discussed earlier. It also sets your organization and individual team members up for success by putting them in an environment that meets them where they are, makes them feel valued, and nudges them to grow.
Similarly, developing Adaptability Intelligence in your team is an investment in your organization’s future. At its core, it is skills development, just like learning best practices, leadership tips, new software or sales strategies. Why wouldn’t you want your people to become better at this increasingly critical skill?
Here’s Why Developing Adaptability Intelligence in Your Team is Essential For Growth:
It Reduces Stress and Anxiety
Nearly 3 out of 4 employees say change causes them stress, and 7 out of 10 are more anxious at work because of change (Source: Gartner). This negatively affects their performance, so it only makes sense to help them become more resilient—for their own health and well-being and to optimize their performance.
It Helps Them Become Agile, Not Fragile
In an ideal situation, employees feel prepared for what’s coming, but situations will inevitably arise that are beyond your control. That’s not the time you want to discover that your team isn’t equipped to handle unexpected twists. Developing Adaptability Intelligence helps your team feel less panicked and overwhelmed in the moment, less like a victim, and more confident and empowered.
It Makes Them Feel Valued
An astounding 83% of employees suffering from change fatigue say their employer hasn’t provided the tools or resources (Source: PWC) to help them adapt. This is a huge missed opportunity to not only make them feel valued and appreciated but also rescue them from the brink of burnout or checking out. Investing in their Adaptability skills shows you care about them as people, and identifying what they need to embrace change allows you to support them in the ways they individually need—to speak their Adaptability “love language.”
It Helps Them to Innovate and Grow
Over three-quarters of employees say they’re ready to adapt to new ways of working and eager to learn new skills. Meanwhile, change aversion is a dead weight for an organization. Giving people the environment they need to explore—the psychological safety to experiment without fear of failure—opens the door to innovation. Throughout history, some of the most impactful ideas have initially been dismissed (Source: Bustle) and ended up changing the world. Great ideas need adaptable environments to flourish.
They’ll Feel Included and Engaged
Building a culture of collaboration is essential for success, and cultivating individual Adaptability can nurture that environment. Fostering Adaptability Intelligence reduces confusion and resentment. It strengthens trust, commitment and loyalty to the organization by empowering your team to solve challenges together.
In order to succeed, organizations need a team that doesn’t just tolerate change—they embrace it when the time comes. They rise to the challenge, becoming change mavericks when needed, and see it as an opportunity, not an obstacle.
The AQai AQme Adaptability Assessment can establish a baseline Adaptability Intelligence Quotient for your team and your organization. With coaching and mentorship, you can level up by giving your team the resources, tools, confidence and environment they need to be more agile and adaptive.
It’s a powerful investment in the future of your organization. Can you afford to stick your head in the sand?
Give us a call today to get started.