A broad array of psychologists, educators, and neuroscientists would like us to start recognizing creativity (defined as the production of something novel and appropriate) as basic to human development and crucial to psychological health.

Mark Runco, PhD has found that for many people the ability to imagine potential obstacles to a goal and generate a range of solutions (hallmarks of creative intelligence) predicts both overall well-being and more satisfying relationships. Inflexible thinking, on the other hand, is associated with depression.

In Quebec, we have BIG winters! We get ready for the snow and cold. We take out our coats, our scarves, our mittens and our boots. We also take out our shovels, we change the tires on our car and we buy the salt to melt the ice.

We know that we can’t change this reality and the general attitude of Quebeckers is simply to get ready to face it. Without drama, without resistance, without hyperventilating. We take ownership of it the best we can, while daydreaming of summer days and imagining ourselves living in the Bahamas!

This is what happens for most problematic situations. When we prepare ourselves and we get used to them, they don’t represent a problem anymore. They simply represent reality.

“Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them — work, family, health, friends and spirit and you’re keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls — family, health, friends, and spirit — are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.” ―Brian Dyson, former vice chairman and COO of Coca-Cola

Diversity is much broader than ethnicity, race or gender. Diversity is otherness or those human qualities that are different from our own and outside the groups to which we belong, yet present in other individuals and groups.

It’s the variety of experiences and perspective which arise from differences in race, culture, religion, mental or physical abilities, heritage, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation,  … without excluding…  diversity of thought!

Adaptability is the ability to manage and adjust one’s own behaviours in order to efficiently work with new information, a new situation and / or a different context. It is knowing how to be flexible and have the agility to adapt to circumstances, situations, requirements and priorities that change and evolve. It’s understanding the scope and relevance of change, and applying appropriate strategies and solutions.

Adaptability is the ability to modify a thought, an attitude, a behaviour, or a work method, based on people and change, in order to better adapt oneself to present and future environments – the ability to manage objectives, tasks and multiple data while adhering to time, resource and system constraints. 

The dictionary defines adaptability as « the ability to adapt to new locations and new situations ». If it’s an ability, it means that it can be taught and learned. Adaptability goes beyond being a skill that we wish to acquire. According to the Harvard School of Business, « the ability of adaptation is the new competitive advantage for individuals and for their organizations » and, according to the Flux Report by Right Management, 91% of human resource managers think that, before 2018, people will be recruited based on their ability to face change and uncertainty. 

Adaptability = Flexibility and Agility

Adaptability combines flexibility and agility. Being flexible and agile refers, on one hand, to the capacity of changing course rapidly, like a shoal of fish or a flock of birds, to transform like a butterfly coming out of a cocoon, to evolve like a chameleon that changes color, a snake that sheds, or a tadpole that metamorphoses into a frog. On the other hand, being flexible and agile refers to the capacity to resist turbulence, to bounce back, to survive storms, and to stay on course, like a starfish that regenerates an arm, a lizard whose tail grows back, a turtle that pulls back into its shell, a hedgehog that rolls into a ball, or a camel that stores water to survive in arid situations. People who easily adapt are flexible in their approach and agile in their thoughts. 

Flexibility is your willingness to adapt. It’s your attitude. 

Flexibility is your predisposition to welcome change, instead of fighting it. People who show flexibility happily change their ideas or their approach based on new information or changing needs. Knowing how to adopt a flexible approach at work and in life increase your chances to reach success instead of maintaining a rigid perspective or series of conviction. Flexible individuals react to change without rigidity; they don’t need to “sink with the boat” because they are able to change opinions when hints suggest that it is what they should do. They are open-minded and tolerant to ideas, orientations and different ways to do things. 

Flexibility is: 

Agility is your ability of adapting oneself. It’s your aptitude. 

An agile state of mind allows to evaluate and to adjust to different roles, responsibilities and objectives that we have every day by changing our own behaviour or our relational styles based on situation and interlocutors. It’s the ability to create new relationships, new attachments, to receive new data and to modify our behaviour accordingly. Mental agility such as this allows us to be more efficient in the detection and problem resolution – mental agility and innovation often go hand in hand. 

Agility implies to be able to train oneself to reinterpret situations and fluid, unexpected or unknown circumstances. It is the aptitude to adapt to new situations, to initiate and to implement change. 

We now know that it is more important than ever to show adaptability, with a lot of resourcefulness and creativity in order to efficiently respond to challenges and ceasing new opportunities. Why? Because things change at a pace faster than ever. Change is constant and unavoidable, and the ability to bounce back, revaluate and to adapt oneself has become of crucial importance.