Adaptability
“How I can adjust the way I function when conditions change.”
Adaptability determines how we can function when the conditions we are used to change. Changes happen all the time — some are small and quick, others fundamental and long-term. In both cases the same rule applies: what we have been working with is changing and is no longer fully usable.
In smaller situations this means a plan falls through, a task runs over or priorities shift. In larger changes there is more at stake. The environment we live in changes, the way we work, the technologies we use, or even the city or country we call home. The stability we relied on disappears.
Adaptability does not mean we handle everything without difficulty. It means we can connect with the change and keep going. We stop starting from how things „used to be“ and start working with what is available now. Sometimes it is enough to adjust a few steps. Other times we need to change pace, scope, way of working and our expectations.
“How I can adjust the way I function when conditions change.”
When adaptability is in good shape, we are not dependent on one mode of operating. We can adjust it to conditions without becoming paralysed. When this capacity is missing, strong tension arises between past settings and current reality. We hold on to what worked before, even when conditions no longer support it. Or we react chaotically, without clear direction. In both cases the situation tends to get worse.
An important part of adaptability is the ability to function without certainty. We often do not know how a situation will develop or what impact it will have. Adaptability means being able to take the next step even in uncertainty and adjust as things evolve.
Equally important is distinguishing what has actually changed from what remains. Not everything falls apart. Some things we can keep, others we need to change. Adaptability is the ability to tell the difference.
Three key areas of adaptability today: In our view, adaptability shows up most in three areas: relationship with technology, the ability to function in an unfamiliar environment, and willingness to consider moving to a different city or country.
Technology determines how we work, communicate and handle everyday tasks. Adaptability here is not about being an enthusiastic tech person, but about willingness to learn new ways of doing things that matter to us. Those who persistently avoid new technology gradually lose access to information, services and opportunities. Those willing to try new things at least at a basic level expand the space they can operate in — at work, in the family and for themselves.
An unfamiliar city, a different neighbourhood, a new institution, an unknown group of people. For some this is unnecessary stress, for others a normal part of life. Adaptability here is not about feeling comfortable immediately, but being willing to stay in the „unknown“ for a while — observing, asking, finding reference points until the environment settles.
Moving to a different city or country is one of the biggest changes. It does not mean we should move at every opportunity. But it shows whether this possibility is in principle closed to us or whether we can think about it. For adaptability, that inner willingness matters — even if we ultimately decide not to go, the very readiness to think through the option expands our space for future responses.
Story from practice
For a long time I said I was set in my ways. I like things I know. At work I use tried and tested tools, in life tried and tested routes. I saw new apps as toys for people who were bored. I felt I could manage without them. I thought adaptability was for people who switch startups every two years and move between Berlin and Lisbon. I have my city, my habits, my ways.
The first crack showed in a completely ordinary family chat. We set it up to arrange celebrations, childcare, photos from the weekend. Siblings, cousins all joined. The first few weeks I read everything. Then the pace picked up. Gifs, memes, links, jokes, voice messages. In the morning I opened my phone and there were 127 unread messages. I closed it, telling myself I would look later.
I started losing track of it. Someone wrote about a deadline, someone replied with just an emoji, someone reacted to something I had never even seen. At a celebration my cousin laughed at some joke from the chat and everyone understood, I just pretended I did too. That evening I tried to catch up on the history at home but gave up after a few minutes.
The turning point came when something important was being discussed in that chat. A close aunt ended up in hospital. Someone wrote how things looked, people arranged who would come when and what needed to be sorted. I had notifications off at the time because the chat annoyed me. When I finally looked, I felt like I had arrived after everything was already decided — information had moved on, tasks had been divided up, the mood had changed three times. And for the first time I felt like someone standing beside their own family without understanding what they were talking about.
In that moment I had to admit something I did not like. It was not just that I disliked group chats. It was that the world around me had changed how it communicates, and I was refusing to truly engage with that new way. I believed that if something important happened, someone would call. But important things today often happen precisely there — in short messages, shared documents, invitations that arrive as a link.
That evening I sat in the kitchen with my phone in hand feeling quite embarrassed. Because my own comfort had started cutting me out of things that matter to me. I realised that being set in my ways was no longer just a style, but also a risk. Not just at work, but in relationships too.
I did not start a revolution. I did not start filming Reels or studying every new app. I just told myself I did not want technology to go around me on things that are important to me. I turned notifications back on for the family chat, set myself simple rules and when I do not understand something, I ask. My teenage daughter teaches me new things and I am finding that some of them genuinely make my life easier. I have started to see adaptability as the willingness not to be left out simply because the way things are done has changed.