How being adaptable helps you solve work problems and succeed

The pandemic accelerated many changes that were forecast to take decades to become widely adopted in society, with a digital workplace revolution at the forefront. 

In parallel, there are dramatic technological, political, and environmental changes ongoing too, many of which will also have ramifications for careers now and in the future.

Our individual capacity to successfully respond and navigate these disruptions is constantly being put to the test, and will continue to be so.

Being able to respond to change, novelty, variability and uncertainty is an important skill, and can help you to solve work problems and succeed.

What is adaptability and why is it important?

When someone says “how adaptable are you?” you know approximately what they mean, but the term adaptable is a fairly broad one, and could be interpreted differently depending on the situation.

The American Psychological Association (APA) defines adaptability as “the capacity to make appropriate responses to changed or changing situations; the ability to modify or adjust one’s behavior in meeting different circumstances or different people”. 

Adaptability can include three distinct but interrelated types of regulation  - cognitive, behavioral and emotional regulation. This encompasses an individual's ability to not just change what they do, but also to change how they think, and how they feel.

Being able to do so is important not just to cope, but to excel at what you do. Adaptability is not just about changing something or adjusting to a situation, it encompasses being able to effect changes in a course of action with ease and timeliness, without any major setbacks.

Everyone has heard about the adaptable entrepreneur, who pivots and iterates, and adapts, and then succeeds with their third or fourth idea, rather than their first. They are constantly adapting to their customers and the market needs, essentially  to feedback, and then re-aligning their course, in order to succeed (or fail, and then move on).

This is equally important in larger organizations, who often go through substantial change and disruption, in order to make sure they stay ahead of new players in the market. This relies on people inside the organization being willing to adapt and change the way they work, where they focus their time and energy, and how quickly they can do so. 

How to improve the skill of adaptability

Some people are naturally more adaptable than others, but this is a skill that can also be developed. It’s important to observe what is going on around you, and stay on top of trends in order to adapt. 

Technology often leaves a generation behind when they don’t adopt the most recent communication platforms. Resisting Tik Tok? You might be missing out on cutting edge trends that are going to shape the future… or just a lot of cat videos.

It’s also important to keep on educating yourself and learning new things. As the economy adapts and new skills become relevant (and old ones redundant), upskilling is as important as ever. Take a course online, pay someone to teach you something new, and practice problem solving to keep your brain agile.

Don’t resist change, push yourself, and avoid procrastination. Set goals for yourself and adopt a growth mindset - i.e. believe that your ability can be developed over time. 

Complex problem solving tasks normally require flexible and adaptable thinking, and so are good to practice to improve adaptability. While individual psychometric testing is a good test of cognitive ability, team-based problem solving games can also be helpful for practicing out-of-the-box thinking.

How being adaptable helps you solve work problems and succeed

It's estimated that the average adult makes more than 35,000 decisions per day. Quite a few, right? If we say that your work day is a third of those hours that is 11,666 decisions.  

Of course many of these decisions are very small ones, but you also need to make a lot of work-based decisions too. Being adaptable allows you to respond appropriately to complex work problems and make informed, rational decisions.

As touched on above, a key aspect of adaptability is observation. Applying this to a work situation, we could say that active listening and communication are part of good observation skills. You can’t always solve problems in a vacuum, and being able to effectively listen and communicate your thoughts, ideas, and reservations in your team is an important aspect of success at work. 

Problem solving skills and resourcefulness also go a long way to solving work problems and performing well at work. An adaptable person can utilize all the tools and learning materials at their disposal, resulting in better outcomes. This might include the ability to research, or simply being confident enough to approach someone to help solve the problem at hand. Problem solving ability can include one’s ability to think innovatively, be creative, and remain open-minded when it comes to solutions.

All-in-all, adaptability is a key skill for any modern workforce. And it’s not new, as the Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, the only constant in life is change!