Forget Change Resilience, adaptability is the change approach to take

Let’s be honest, how many times have you heard the phrase "we're doing too much" when it comes to change. Or perhaps in response you have heard “we need to build more change resilience” ? Maybe that is what you have heard when you have team members have had to a poorly implemented change. Or perhaps your employee engagement survey results are indicating that 'change is managed poorly'. A culmination of all of those conversations can move discussions to be focused on the negative. But if you are truly wanting to have your team members not necessarily embrace change but reconcile that it is just how the organisations works and responds to changing customer needs and focusing on performance, then the mindset and language will need to shift.

Now, here’s the hard truth: change resilience is outdated. It belongs to a reactive, survival-driven way of thinking that doesn’t reflect the future of work or the demands of modern teams. 

Welcome to the age of change adaptability.

🔁 Resilience vs. Adaptability: A Mindset Shift and a Strengths based approach

“Resilience” implies bouncing back after adversity. Sounds noble, but let’s pause for a moment. Why are we accepting that people should constantly be recovering from poor organisational decisions, badly managed change, or lack of leadership clarity? In some contexts, resilience may be positive, but the experience in an organisational context is compensating for poorly managed change which is unacceptable. On the other hand, adaptability is proactive. It’s forward-thinking. It’s a skillset, a mindset, and a culture. It means being ready for change—not just surviving it.

Taking a strengths based approach, and one which it essentially working with the strengths of the organisational culture, you will be able to integrate into the DNA of the organisation the willingness to adapt. A true learning culture and one where flexibility and authenticity can flourish.

Adaptability is about sensing opportunities, pivoting quickly, and creating environments where people feel psychologically safe enough to try, test, and grow. It’s not about absorbing change. It’s about becoming part of change.

🧠 Why Language Matters

Here’s why it’s critical to shift our language and thinking:

• Change resilience implies burnout is acceptable.

• Change adaptability suggests capability, readiness, and performance.

This subtle language shift has massive ripple effects—on culture, leadership, and performance metrics. Rather than talking about endurance, which also relates to burn out and having a 'hero' culture for 'pushing through', consider designing organisations around evolution. That means embedding adaptability into the DNA of your culture—from onboarding to performance reviews to innovation cycles.

📊 How to Measure Adaptability in Your Organisation

You may already have some of the the data points about adaptability, however you may need to read them differently.

Key indicators of adaptability include:

• Leadership Index Scores: Are leaders perceived as effective change agents?

• Engagement Survey Results: Do staff feel connected, informed, and heard?

• Communication Effectiveness: Are messages clear, timely, and aligned?

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Are silos breaking down or building up?

• Continuous Improvement Culture: Are teams encouraged to question and iterate?

Organisations that foster adaptability aren’t focused on patching holes. They’re focused on building stronger ships. In addition to some of these measures, the effectiveness of your Change Ecosystem will also be showing up in your engagement surveys and with your lead indicators.

Where strengths are showing up, double down and amplify them, leveraging the cultural strengths in your organisation to continue to build upon existing adaptability. 

🛠️ From Slogan to Strategy

"Culture eats strategy for breakfast"—we’ve heard it before, but here’s the truth: if adaptability isn't part of your strategic architecture, it will never become part of your culture.

You must build it into:

• Your operating models

• Your talent capability frameworks

• Your 3-5 year vision

Yes, it takes time. But it’s not optional anymore. We’re in the digital age. The technology landscape is evolving faster than we are. If you’re not embedding adaptability today, you’re going to be playing expensive catch-up tomorrow.

Consider investing:

• Mindset coaching for leaders and teams

• Systemic ecosystem design that supports real-time change navigation

• Capability uplift in human-centered design and adaptive strategy

Adaptability isn’t a training. It’s a cultural commitment.

💡Interested in exploring this further. Reach out to us and find out how we can help.