Become future-ready — that one skill you need to cultivate
The future will be filled with varying degrees of change. So how do we respond?
The COVID-19 global pandemic disrupted our normal ways of doing things and pushed us from our business as usual to do major adjustments in our routine.
The pandemic introduced significant changes and uncertainty that affected every aspect of our life from our careers to our mental health — a lot of businesses shut down and people experienced increased stress and anxiety. It was a difficult season in anyone’s life but nevertheless we are able to find ways not only to live and survive but also to thrive in this “new normal”.
Throughout history, we are always ushered into an era of “new normal” due to major events such as war, economic crises, pandemics, medical breakthroughs, and technological advancements. What we experienced for the past two years is one of these many events and things like these will still likely happen in the future.
Heraclitus was right:
“The only constant in life is change.”
With this truth in mind, we can say that the future will be filled with varying degrees of change. So how do we respond?
Leon C. Megginson (1966) condensed his interpretation of Charles Darwin’s idea into this quote:
“It is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself.” (emphasis added)[1]
Adaptability.
Fortunately, inherent in us is the capacity to adapt to the changing environment.
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”.
Australian Psychological Society has extended this definition to include not only cognitive and behavioral regulation, but also emotional regulation in response to change, novelty, variability and uncertainty.
According to them cognitive regulation refers to one’s ability to adjust thoughts and thinking to deal with change. Behavioral regulation refers to one’s ability to adjust the nature, level, and degree of behavior or action to successfully navigate change. Emotional regulation refers to one’s ability to adjust usual or typical emotional responses to successfully interact with change. [2]
ABC of Adaptability
For us to successfully deal, navigate, and interact with change we should be able to regulate our affect (emotions), behavior, and cognition (thinking). These factors are interdependent with each other — our thinking affects how we feel and how we feel affects how we act. Here are some ways to improve our adaptability:
- Accept that change is a normal part of life
- Regulate our emotional response by adopting healthy thought patterns
- Seek new ways to do things
- Widen our perspective by continuously learning
By cultivating our adaptability we can successfully handle change and become future-ready.
References:
[1] 1963 June, Southwestern Social Science Quarterly, Volume 44, Number 1, Lessons from Europe for American Business by Leon C. Megginson, (Presidential address delivered at the Southwestern Social Science Association convention in San Antonio, Texas, April 12, 1963), Start Page 3, Quote Page 4, Published jointly by The Southwestern Social Science Association and the University of Texas Press.
[2] Martin, A.J. (2017). Adaptability: A key capacity whose time has come. Published in Inpsych on December 2017.
