Issue #12 - Embracing Adaptability and Fueling your Growth Mindset

Last week we received news one evening that we were not selected for an opportunity the company was pursuing. While you don't expect to win every deal (secretly, I do), this was one where our team felt prepared and put forward what we thought to be a good effort. Unfortunately for us, the evaluators saw it differently and this time we had to focus more on “learning” rather than winning. Seeking a little inspiration, I went back to an old book I read by Max McKeown which focuses on choices we must make to shape the future. For me, his quote sums up the choice we have: "Adaptability is about the powerful difference between adapting to cope and adapting to win."

In our situation, as a primary mechanism we could choose to manage the difficulty of the loss by focusing on keeping things running – effectively maintaining a status quo and taking a more risk averse approach to expanding the business. There are threads within this coping mindset that might be necessary, however it doesn’t lead to growth or significant improvement. Over time, the focus becomes managing the metrics and treading water eventually down to zero as the team fails to evolve and capitalize on new opportunities. They say Defense Wins Games… but you still have to score points.

Instead, we choose to apply a Growth Mindset and focus on adapting to win. Our position is that we use our experience to build resiliency and to learn new lessons that will help us unlock the path to success. Did we need to innovate, or did we innovate too much? Did our assumption of the Conditions of Success match up to how we were evaluated? The one questions I always go back to because this seems to be the thing that is always hardest to learn… Did we give it our best?

My point here is less about our company situation and more about leaders making the deliberate choice to understand and leverage changes in their environment so they can make forward-thinking decisions to achieve higher levels of performance and success. People depend on us every day to see over the horizon for where we should make the investments to influence or be prepared for the change. These moments serve as the building blocks for any transformation. Consuming information, applying knowledge, and experience in new situations. Promoting innovation and collaboration with the team responsible for the execution. Cultivating and creating a Growth Mindset: Embracing the opportunity of a challenge and fostering a culture of adaptability.

I’ve said it here and shared with my team, “We don’t lose, we learn.” This journey is not just about winning, but also about growing and evolving through every experience and positioning ourselves to turn obstacles into steppingstones towards greater achievements. The Status Quo always tips the Libra scales against us at the onset, but that weight is no match for a learning organization that exhibits vigor, determination, and truly believes that its best days are ahead of them no matter today’s setback. So replenish your energy and fuel up-- we've got a lot of work to do.