Dumb adaptability

Being adaptable in a sea of change is not only ideal for business; it is essential for survival.

Famous university professor and author Gary Hamel argues that the 21st century will favor adaptability and continuous innovation. Unless we zoom out from our daily sight and scenes, and take a serious look at the way things have developed over the years, we will miss the big picture.

First, there used to be a plain department store. Then it became a mall. Now look at what’s happening: from the suburban shopping mall, to the big box of retailers, to online shopping. Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry, has gone from drugs discovery to designer drugs based on generic information. The car industry, on the other hand, has gone from combustion engines, to mixed hybrids, to all-electric vehicles, then to fuel cells. With software, applications went from those that needed buying and installing, to applications that call for simple accessing and downloading from the web.

Have you ever observed that in each of these major shifts, the incumbents have been left behind? Think pagers and beepers and typewriters.

The future is no longer a continuation of the past.

For the first time in many years, an old man traveled from his rural town to the city to see a movie. After buying his ticket, he stopped at the concession stand to purchase some popcorn. Handing the attendant $1.50, he couldn’t help but comment, “The last time I came to the movies, popcorn was only 15 cents.”

“Well, sir,” the attendant replied with a grin, “You’re really going to enjoy yourself. We have sound now.”

Gary Hamel said, “We are now living in a world wherein we are shaken by change, not just stirred. A hundred years ago there was no change happening at an exponential rate the world is experiencing today.The future is no longer an extrapolation of the past. Organizations begin to lose their impact when the rate of their internal change is slower and lags behind the rate of external changes. Many business companies cannot do much because their key people are prisoners of precedents. Locked and jailed by their custodians of convention.”1

And then Hamel asks a very serious question: “Are you changing as fast as the world around you? Are you the vanguard or the old guard?” The world is becoming increasingly turbulent faster than business organizations are becoming more resilient. Serious companies should embark on a continuous journey of adaptability and innovation. And as I repeatedly say in my seminars, both in-house and public, the curse for business is inertia.

But the point I want to make is that adaptability in itself may not necessarily be good. Because there is such a case as “Dumb Adaptability.”

What does this mean?

People are wise. People are ingenious and they always find ways to adapt. Dumb adaptability occurs when we adapt to inconvenient situations, opt for temporary remedies, and put off solving the real problem because the adaptation works for a while.

Consider the following. People sit on their seatbelts rather than fasten them. They write PINs on their hands. Hang their clothes, pants or jackets on doorknobs. And they may have done these so often they fail to realize that seatbelts are for fastening but hands are not for writing PINs nor are doorknobs for hanging garments.

Moral stand and ethical conduct are put on hold because of adaptation to the environment, since everybody’s doing it anyway. Friday night for the boys, happy hour for pleasure, ego and pride that come with positions and then people adapt and lose their own moral principles.

These are what I call “Dumb Adaptations.”

Superficial remedies and cosmetic solutions to deeply-rooted “soul” problems abound: drinking one’s self to slumber, throwing one’s weight around to feel important. “But the system is corrupt,” you might say. So what then, we adapt? It doesn’t look like it’s a good idea.

Change is normal, but we should make sure we change for the better.

We do not adapt to practices that compromises personal morals and convictions. We should make a stand. For he or she who does not stand for anything will fall for everything.

(Francis Kong will be the lead trainer for Dr. John Maxwell’s “Developing the Leader Within You” leadership program this April 27-28 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. For further inquiries, contact Inspire Leadership Consultancy Inc. at 632-6872614 or 09178511115)