adaptability – Page 4 – Reimagine. Strategy.

May 23, 2022May 19, 2022

Invent or Improve?

When a process or product or idea isn’t working, do you want to tweak the design slightly or throw it out and start over?

This is a distinction I’m learning about through my work with the Adaptability Quotient tool. It’s an assessment that measures individual and team adaptability, and one of the results is an aggregate measure that reflects if a team prefers to approach adaptability through a lens of “utilize and improve” and/or “explore and transform.” The former will lead you to approach change systematically and build on existing solutions, whereas the latter would have you trying different ways of working and experimenting with newly invented solutions.

April 11, 2022May 2, 2022

Zero Sum Adaptability Thinking

As I explore the metaphor of elastic leadership with groups, they continue to find new ways to apply it. One participant recently observed that if an elastic is stretched hard in one direction, it doesn’t have much give available to be stretched in other directions. Sounds familiar, right? We can only stretch so far before we snap, and the demands on our stretchiness feel cumulative.

March 7, 2022May 2, 2022

Resisting Adaptability in Real Time

One of the most piercing coaching questions I’ve heard (courtesy of Jerry Colonna) is, “How have you been complicit in creating the conditions you say you don’t want?” Ouch.

One condition I say I want is to be “easy to buy.” I want my clients to find the process of working with me to be clear, smooth and easy.

February 21, 2022May 2, 2022

Too Many Ways to Win

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about lessons on adaptability I was learning from a new board game our family enjoys. The post generated lots of interest (including eliciting requests for more board game recommendations, which of course I was happy to provide!), so it’s stayed on my radar.

One insight has taken up residence in my mind since then:

There are lots of ways to win, but if you try to win at all of them, you’ll lose.

January 17, 2022May 2, 2022

When Results Aren’t Your Goal

Sometimes the best way to tackle a problem is to come at it sideways rather than head on.

Four recent examples have highlighted the usefulness of this reminder for me:

If you’re feeling a bit stuck today, consider multiple ways you or your group could tackle your challenge indirectly. Instead of skirting the issue, you may find you are effectively solving it instead.