What Is Positive Psychology?

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The world seems to be changing at an accelerating pace.

Adaptability is key to success in a changing world.

Specific tactics can help make us more adaptable.

The modern pace of change can be unnerving. Both practitioner and academic sources suggest that the pace of change is accelerating. Today, advances in artificial intelligence (AI) force many employees to update their approach to work every few months and sometimes find new jobs. Modern crises, such as the COVID pandemic, forced people across the entire planet to adapt to new realities almost instantaneously. In such a dynamic world, a particularly useful resource is adaptability.

Adaptability is the ability to adjust oneself in order to function effectively in different or shifting situations. It has cognitive, emotional, and behavioral components, and can be measured with items such as “I am able to think through a number of possible options to assist me in a new situation” and “When uncertainty arises, I am able to minimize frustration or irritation so I can deal with it best.” Research has shown that adaptability is associated with academic outcomes such as school enjoyment and career success, and the flexibility associated with adaptability promotes psychological health.

So, how do we promote adaptability so that we can thrive in a changing world? There is not a lot of research on adaptability, but the research that does exist offers us some suggestions that allow us to produce an adaptability advantage.

Acknowledge Your Emotions. When change unfolds, you are not expected to be an unemotional robot. A little bit of occasional change can feel exciting. A lot of constant change can feel overwhelming. Having to make changes because your job was overtaken by AI can make you angry and resentful. These reactions are normal. Accept them. In addition, try to develop an attitude of curiosity, which has been suggested as an important part of adaptability and also an aspect of mindfulness, which can help you cope with the stress and negative emotions associated with change, and consider how best to adapt. The ability to handle stress is a key component of adaptability.

Diversify. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. The diversified portfolio model of adaptability suggests that adaptability is enhanced by engaging in many activities, having a wide set of experiences, and occupying a variety of roles, such as parent, volunteer, and pickleball partner. This occurs because such a diversified set of life circumstances builds resilience, confidence, and a more complex self-concept that is protected from disruption when individual aspects of it are threatened by change. This makes you more adaptive. Varied experiences also foster a broad base of knowledge, which has been shown to be associated with adaptability in organizational contexts.

Experiment and Be Willing to Fail. Adaptability requires that we creatively experiment with new mindsets, approaches, and behaviors. It is important to recognize that these experiments may not turn out well at first. But every failure generates valuable information that may redirect us to ultimate success. The willingness to try new things and potentially fail has been shown to be associated with the ability to adapt to novel technologies.

Build and Leverage Relationships. Cultivating new relationships and leveraging old ones allows you to benefit from a network that offers interpersonal and problem-solving resources that can promote adaptability by expanding the assets you can draw on. Old and new relationships can offer ideas, support, and advice that support adaptability. This highlights that adaptability is influenced not only by personal resources but also by the external resources provided by the context in which people find themselves, which can help or hinder their ability to adapt.

Have Fun. Negative emotions narrow our thinking, and positive emotions do the opposite. Positive emotions such as joy, contentment, and love broaden our thinking and allow us to be more flexible in the way we approach challenges. It is somewhat ironic, then, that when the challenges generated by the pace of change lead us to think that we should hunker down and brainstorm adaptive solutions, it may be just as valuable to relax, engage in enjoyable activities that foster positive emotions, and just let natural psychological processes do their thing.

What Is Positive Psychology?

Take our Optimism Test

Find a therapist near me

The modern pace of change can be stressful, and there is no magic bullet that will make it pleasurable. There are, however, different ways of dealing with change that are more or less likely to help you adapt. Capitalizing on the former will promote the adaptability advantage.

© Psychology Today