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.
Continue reading “When Results Aren’t Your Goal”“Well, at least we have enough toilet paper!”
A classic line from a client this week as we considered how to muster the energy to cope with another hard chapter in pandemic life.
We were actually talking about “Emotional Range” within her Adaptability Quotient assessment at the time. Emotional Range is defined as the extent to which people experience emotions because of situations in their environment. At one end of that range are people who are “reactive” – they have stronger stress responses in the face of the unexpected and are easily overwhelmed by uncertainty. Folks at the “collected” end of the range tend to be calm under pressure and in control of their reactions. They can also be [perceived to be] less sensitive when others are struggling.
Continue reading “Collected Under Pressure”If you’ve been following along in this space, you’ll know I’m a fan of adaptability. We need it, we can learn it, and it can energize us.
But I’m learning its limits.
Having been playing with the metaphor of elasticity recently to capture dimensions of adaptable leadership, it occurs to me that (unlike elastics!) humans have the ability to warn others, if not to predict, when they are about to snap. And “snapping” does not only look like breaking down or falling apart. It might look more like simply being unable to fulfill your intended purpose as well as you otherwise could have, or even not at all.
Continue reading “The Limits of Adaptability”Elastics stretch from a fixed point.
I don’t understand much about physics, but I know from experience that if all parts of an elastic are in motion simultaneously, stretching isn’t happening. And elastics are made to stretch.
This metaphor might resonate for you when you consider the past 20 months – at times all the parts have been moving at once, so you haven’t been able to respond well.
Continue reading “Stretching from a fixed point”I am conscious of being in a liminal space recently, somewhere between gatherings happening digitally and in-person and a new “third way” of hybrid that has more variations than I can describe.
Liminal spaces are exciting and uncomfortable and tiring.
This particular transitional time reminds me to be grateful for the fact that adaptability (which we all need) is both an individual and a collective responsibility. The Adaptability Quotient assessment tool measures personal skills such as grit and resilience, but also collective features such as work environment and team support. This means that our shared environments can both contribute to and undermine our ability to adapt, just like our temperament and skillsets can.
Continue reading “Collective Adaptability”