How to be more adaptable during change

We think one of the most important, yet neglected, issues in organisations is helping employees become more adaptable to change. The need for control in our working life is strong and this control can easily become disrupted during change.

It must be a major source of strategic advantage if an organisation has more adaptable people than its competitors. We believe organisations could become much more proactive in helping employees deal with what appears to be a relentless set of organisational and personal changes.

So many of the people we meet seem caught up in a kind of 365/24/7 Blackberry lifestyle with no pause or stop buttons available for relief.

Assessing your own adaptability preferences

Why is it that some people seem to bounce back from the effects of change whilst others become consumed and debilitated by the very same changes? It is our personal adaptability levels that enable us to deal with or even "embrace" this disruption. It also offers the possibility that not only might we 'survive' change but we might actually 'thrive' during periods of extreme turbulence.

We have been working on this issue for over ten years now. For the last twelve months we have been developing a new Personal Adaptability Inventory (PAI) which allows people to rank their own preferences during change and then work out if this hierarchy helps or hinders them in different situations. We thought you might like to try and prioritise your own preferences using these high level characteristics. Think about difficult change situations you have faced and reflect on which of these preferences you have used the most and which the least.

Characteristic	Description	Your Personal Ranking
Optimistic	belief that the change will have positive outcomes explains issues to themselves in a way that gives hope
Self Assured	belief in own capabilities in control of change rather than the change controlling you
Focused	able to prioritise pursuing goals even in the face of difficulties
Open to Ideas	generating alternative ideas and solutions prepared to use these ideas in practice
Seeks Support	actively seeks support of others in times of change sees value in seeking the views of others
Structured	able to make a plan for change for myself prepared to flex the plan
Proactive	prepared to step out into the unknown take the necessary action to make the plan happen

How can you develop your own Personal Adaptability?

We have set of development processes for people who want to increase their own levels of adaptability. But 'top-line' there are four actions you can take:

1. When faced with a difficult change situation use the seven characteristics from the PAI as a checklist. For example "Am I being as structured as I could be?"

2. Accept responsibility for your reaction to what other people do or say. For example: They are not "making you angry" - it's that you feel angry when they act or talk in a certain way.

3. When confronted with a negative situation do your best to deal with it, pause afterward to reflect on what happened, and ask "What can I learn from this?" Visualise yourself doing better next time and look forward to engaging with the next situation.

4. Major disruption can often remind us of situations in the past that have tested our self-confidence and sense of control and where we have struggled to cope or underperformed. We need to be clear about the specific things that we can do to get ready so as to appear and feel competent in these situations.

If you want more information about PAI or our development processes please contact Audra Proctor at Audra.Proctor@changefirst.com

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