You can become more adaptable

About the biggest change I had to face in my childhood was when we moved house – a full half a mile down the road, from the middle of the village to the edge of the village. That was back in the 70s (which I realise for younger readers is shortly after the end of WWII). Dad was the local GP and Mum was a teacher, and they still live in the same house today. It’s fair to say I had a pretty stable upbringing.

Is that why I love change so much? I grew up in East Anglia, where not much seemed to happen. No mines, so no miners’ strike. No severe weather, sheltered by the rest of England from the prevailing winds. No big cities, so no major crime. (I think the only drugs in our village were the ones Dad prescribed). Even the horizon here on the edge of the Fens looks like its flatlining. So was it a lack of excitement that drove me to explore anything new and different? Or was it having the safety net of a safe-house that gave me the confidence to go out there and take some risks?

I don’t know. For some, early experiences with change can make them crave stability, and for others it can hook them on the adrenaline of pushing boundaries. Either way, we are the products of our formative years. And for many, that’s where their story flatlines. We struggle to carve out our place in the world, high enough up Maslow’s peak to be comfortable, and then we dig in. At that point we transition from progression to protection.

The problem is that it turns out the place where we set up camp isn’t on what we thought for so long was a mountain, it’s a volcano. It may have been blissfully dormant during our ascent, but with recent world events, all 8 billion of us have felt first-hand the increasingly unpredictable nature of the world we live in.

So battening down the status quo hatches is no longer an option. We all have to embrace change. That is why I believe that of all the types of intelligence that have been identified since Howard Gardner wrote Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences in 1983, Adaptability Intelligence is THE most important form of intelligence we need to develop to make the most of the increasingly seismic changes underfoot.

I’m extremely grateful to the quiet safe rural upbringing I was lucky enough to have, and for the curiosity that my parents nurtured in me that led to working all over the world, from Aberdeen to Auckland, in everything from manufacturing to marketing.

It seems that all of my experience and education has come together to give me a single golden nugget of knowledge that most people don’t know, but need to: You can become more adaptable.

I hope that’s a source of comfort for anyone wary about leaving their comfort zone. My village still has the church and butcher’s by the war memorial, but it’s now twice the population and has a science park that does R&D in nanotechnology.

Wherever you are in your relationship with change, the chances are that it needs to change. Afterall, mastering adaptability – like mastering anything – is a journey without end. If you stand still too long these days, the ground will open up. Change is risky and disruptive, but inevitable. But with higher Adaptability Intelligence, the journey becomes more comfortable than trying to stay still.

Rich Alderton specialises in raising Adaptability Intelligence, so if you're looking to grow yours, call us on 07873 823 800, email us or complete our enquiry form.

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