What is adaptability and how can you use it in practice

Adaptability means changing how you act when the conditions around a task change. It might involve learning a tool, renegotiating an agreement or revising a plan. Start by identifying what has changed and which outcome is still achievable, before assuming that the answer is to work faster.

What adaptability looks like at work and beyond

Suppose your team moves to a new reporting system. You know how to prepare a report, but the data location, template and approval process have changed. Adapting involves specific actions: locating the data, learning the format, checking a sample and agreeing on a transition period.

In their 2000 study, Pulakos and colleagues treated adaptive job performance as a set of different dimensions. They developed a classification from workplace incidents and examined it using data from people in different jobs. This is research about work behaviour, rather than proof that an “adaptable person” will succeed in every area of life.

A useful question is therefore “What action do I need to learn here?” A general rating of your flexibility tells you much less. Experience with changing software does not mean that moving home or taking on a new family responsibility should feel equally manageable.

Separate the outcome from the familiar method

Write down the result that is still needed. For the report, that might be an accurate summary delivered by an agreed date. The old spreadsheet was a way of producing it. A new template can preserve the goal while changing the method.

Then name the conditions you cannot silently disregard: accuracy requirements, access permissions, working hours and commitments to other people. If the original deadline is no longer feasible, the deadline belongs in the discussion too. A workable transition may require a different schedule.

If your description mixes an outcome with a list of activities, use our guide to goals, projects and tasks to separate them. You can then identify which part of the plan actually needs to change.

Identify the obstacle you can address

The following examples are questions for a practical discussion, not an adaptability assessment.

The answer may reveal a constraint outside your skills. More training will not grant missing permissions or reconcile contradictory instructions. Those obstacles need agreements and involvement from the people responsible.

Run a limited trial

Choose a manageable part of the change instead of promising an immediate switch across all your work. For example, prepare one report in the new format using data you are allowed to access, then have it checked before the wider transition. Agree who will review it, what counts as acceptable and when the review will happen.

Record what the trial cannot establish. It might show that the template is understandable without telling you whether the process can handle month-end demand. For a specific learning need, see our guide to developing professional skills. If you can see only one possible approach, try the questions for thinking more flexibly.

Review both the result and the cost of adapting

After the trial, check whether it produced the required result and whether the workload was manageable. A faster report containing errors does not solve the problem. An accurate report that repeatedly requires late-night work is also a reason to revisit the process.

You might keep the new method, adjust one part, ask for help or reconsider the task itself. Dropping an unworkable option is a valid outcome. If the change has already happened and a decision is due soon, use our guide to making decisions when plans change to work through deadlines, unknowns and review points.