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This is part 4 of the 4-week series about skills for the AI future. Check previous editions on agency, generating new ideas, and resilience.
What do a potato, an egg, and a coffee bean have in common? Well, they share a fable.
For an unknown reason, someone put a potato, an egg, and a coffee bean into pots of boiling water. And what happened is a great metaphor for adaptability in a harsh environment. The potato became soft and weak, the egg turned hard and bitter, but the coffee bean turned the water itself into something new.
Moral of the story: adaptable individuals change their circumstances by not letting external events influence their state.
AI generated
If I were to define adaptability, I’d define it as the ability to live in a constant iteration loop: do → evaluate → learn → change. On repeat, with the goal to increase speed and lower stress.
AI generated
The world is putting more emphasis on adaptability since we are facing more changes. For the past 6 years, life has been full of events: a pandemic, AI, economic shifts, and the world reshaping at a speed never imagined.
My intent here is to keep learning short and condensed, so I’ll focus only on the concept of Adaptability Quotient (AQ) before getting to the practical part.
Adaptability Quotient (AQ) is the new IQ and EQ. In short, measuring the ability to adapt in times of change and uncertainty.
But adapt what? And here we can look at 3 types of flexibility:
cognitive → thinking differently, looking at a problem from a different angle.
emotional → managing our emotions, this is more about emotional intelligence.
behavioral → actions that put us into “doing mode”, experimenting and pivoting.
The article AQ Is The New EQ: Why Adaptability Now Defines Success provides interesting insights. But a key takeaway: adaptability is a skill, not an innate trait. So it’s trainable. Let’s see how.
HOW to train adaptability?
First, understand the innate need for safety. Our behavior is inevitably influenced by trivial needs. The first layer is always self-observation, which doesn’t come easily since we are used to being in autopilot mode (a very much supported mode in Western culture).
Second, make things fun. A trainer I worked with used to say ‘If it’s not fun, I am not doing it’. But there is a caveat - make it fun, don’t wait for external circumstances to do it for you. For me, the why here is simple - the most adaptable creatures are KIDS, and what they do best is PLAYING.
Third, experiment with:
embracing small changes: instead of the regular cappuccino, go for black coffee, take a different route to work, or rearrange the desk.
seeking discomfort: have an awkward conversation, do something that makes you feel exposed or vulnerable, but treat it like a game.
practicing reframing: look for the good in any given circumstances. My favorite question to shift the mood: What's the good in this? In the end, our brain is kind of like an LLM- we need to ask the right questions.
Here's what this looks like for me this week:
I'm hosting an event next week in NYC.
Being the main host is the discomfort here. (seeking discomfort checked ✔)
The other day I caught my brain doing what brains do → worry: what if people don't show up?, what if the activities flop?, will it be awkward?
So the small changes I made: 1. I reached out to a few friends who could actually help and asked for what I needed. 2. decided to work from a different cafe, just to change the setting. (embracing small changes checked ✔)
I also used 2 questions that helped a lot: Did I do what needed to be done for this? and What else can I do right now? (practicing reframing checked ✔)
This helped my brain switch and be more resourceful → it found 3 actions I could take. 24 hours later, more people signed up.
Nothing revolutionary in my story. We all know the right thing to do. Sometimes we just don't, especially when we spiral. So reminders always help 😊
A new week, a new simple app
I attended an event at Microsoft Garage, by Tavily and Lovable. So, using Tavily and Lovable was a constraint. And I added one myself: finish fast, max 60 min.
What is it?
Personal AI-powered news curation tool.
The Tech
Claude for ideation, built in Lovable (React + Supabase), powered by Tavily API + Claude API.
Demo
*No link this time, in full honesty, I pay for the API, so anyone testing it results in a cost.
Have an amazing week, with more adaptability,
Silvia
