Adaptability—Flexibility

"You can't build an adaptable organization without adaptable people - and individuals change only when they have to, or when they want to." ~ Gary Hamel

"The mind of an enlightened human being is flexible and adaptable. The mind of the ignorant person is conditioned and fixed." ~ Ajahn Sumedho

"Adaptability cushions the impact of change or disappointment." ~ Marvin J. Ashton

"A society which is mobile, which is full of channels for the distribution of a change occurring anywhere, must see to it that its members are educated to personal initiative and adaptability." ~ John Dewey

You will have a plan. You will believe in it, work tirelessly to improve it, and rely on it to lead you to success. And then reality will intervene. The competition will be fiercer than you had hoped. Your students will respond differently than you imagined. The market will shift in directions you could never have predicted. And your plan, the one you had so much confidence in, will fall apart.

It's not the inability of the original design that separates the winners from the losers, but the ability to change when that design falls apart. When you are a hardliner, you will fracture. If you only see black and white - right from wrong but no gray areas of complexity, or you can't see through the forest because it's too thick or complex, you will experience tremendous amount of failure. If you are adaptable, you will improvise a new course. The greatest athletes, educators, and entrepreneurs don't fear surprise obstacles. They expect them. They don't practice by hoping it works but in how to bounce back when it doesn't. They're able to roll with the punches and let the water roll off their shoulders without being deterred.

You step into the field, the court, or the velodrome track, prepared. You have practiced and trained for years, studied your sport and opponents, and developed the ideal strategy. But then disaster. Your opponent does something you did not anticipate. Your body does not respond as anticipated. The referees make an incorrect call against you. In an instant, the game is no longer as it ought to be.

If you freeze, if you panic, if you stubbornly cling to your crumbling game plan, you will lose. This is what separates the good from the great. The must competitive athletes don't cling to a busted game plan; they adjust in the moment. They read their opponent's actions, change their strategy, and change their mindset on the fly. They don't let setbacks define them, they let them fuel them.

You will need to adapt the same. If a disabling injury is holding you back, hone your technique. If an opponent has revealed your weak point, patch it up. If the game changes, change with it. Your ability to change under pressure will ultimately succeed far more than your initial plan ever would.

You enter the classroom with a lesson plan you have carefully prepared. It has worked before. You know it will engage, motivate, and instruct. But as you begin, you see empty faces. The students are not paying attention. They do not react as you hoped. The world they live in is not the same as last year. Their problems are different. Their attention spans are shorter. Their behaviours are more defiant, you know and they know you are struggling.

The greatest teachers do not use failure as an excuse to quit; they use it as data. If one method fails, they use another. If the students don't get it, they explain it differently. If the classroom environment is against them, they restructure it.

You must do the same. The school system takes an eternity to change, but you can't. Each student is different, each year brings new demands, and the real world is changing faster than ever before. The best teachers are those who change with the times, those who think on their feet when their plan fails, those who never permit ego to stand in the way of results.

You start a business or operate a company with a vision. You have a plan, a model, a blueprint for success. Then the economy shifts. A new entrant comes along. A product you invested in bombs due to Trump's tariffs on Canada. Your workers are not cooperating. Your plan, the one you built everything around is no longer working.

The poorest performing business leaders cling to the past and expect everything to return to the way things are. They refuse to acknowledge what is in front of them, and so they lose. The best business leaders adapt before they are forced to. They study the terrain, anticipate transformation, and adapt before disaster strikes.

You must do the same. If your clients no longer need what you're providing, find out what they do need. If technology will upset your business, adopt it ahead of other people. If your leadership strategy is no longer effective, modify it. The only thing certain in business is uncertainty. Those who thrive are those who shift with the sudden change and not against it.

When your plans fall apart and they will, you have two choices, resist or adjust. Resistance leads to failure, frustration, and stagnation. Adaptability leads to resilience, growth, and a growth mindset.

As an athlete, don't fear an unexpected opponent, take up the challenge and reverse the situation in your favour. As a teacher, don't blame the system or the students, change your approach and make a positive life changing difference in a teenager's life. As a corporate manager, don't mourn a lost formula due to American tariffs, adjust to the new paradigm before your competitors.