Why ‘Adaptability Quotient’ (AQ) is Crucial to Leadership

Well then... Welcome Back!

Many thanks to those of you who came to our first-ever IMPROV Breakfast. We laughed, we cried, we ate gluten-free croissants. Most importantly, we asked ourselves and each other about The Value of Play in the Workplace.

The consensus seemed to be that play, crucially, allows for change, as well as for expansion of the ‘what ifs?’ (vital for future-proofing and bigger thinking).

Next Wednesday we’ll dive into the topic of AQ - not, apparently, a neglected knob on your hifi system but Adaptability Quotient, aka the measure of a person’s mental agility and willingness to roll with change and challenge.

Free next Wednesday at 9.30am?

Sign up now via this link: The IMPROV Breakfast* to join us on Zoom. The Breakfast lasts a tidy 25 minutes and we’ll present, unpack and discuss - with you - Why Adaptability Quotient, or AQ, is necessary for leadership. *IMPROV Inc. ask you to please bring your own oat milk.

Why ‘Adaptability Quotient’ (AQ) is Crucial to Leadership

And here’s food for thought before we meet, all on the topic of AQ…

“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change” Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist

AQ: so what’s that now? Is it ‘Angora Quality’, AKA the measure of floofiness in any given Scandinavian’s winter wardrobe?

Well, possibly, in certain knitting circles.

However, when IQ = intelligence quotient and EQ = emotional intelligence, then AQ is Adaptability Quotient: the measure of a person’s mental agility and willingness to meet change.

Albert Einstein himself said, even more broadly, that: “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change”. If you don’t believe the world’s most famous theoretical physicist, the sentiment is echoed this year by LinkedIn’s ‘Learning’ arm: “2024’s Number 1 in-demand, top skill of the moment is Adaptability”.

It's clear: as our business landscape evolves at lightning speed, AQ is the single most important (yet most hidden) success pointer in business.

But why is AQ crucial to leadership, we hear you cry?

Because leaders must no longer always lead from the front. Today’s workforce type and workplace demands mean that effective leaders will ‘follow the follower’; allowing the team room to breathe and create without a ‘top down’ micro-managerial mindset (so last century, please).

Leadership today requires being open with deep listening and an instinct of how to be ‘a chameleon in the jungle’: i.e.. not losing one’s core identity, yet knowing when and how to blend in, to shift and thrive amid new challenges - like when it’s permitted as an older millennial to wear brat green (only the once in mid-Q4; you’re welcome).

Can AQ be learned?

Of course! Like any training, it’s a muscle to be worked. Just like your natural talent for languages is enhanced via language classes, you can increase, with practise, your AQ.

Like any human faculty, however, your AQ deteriorates if ignored.

Management consultancy guru Peter Drucker takes the logic a step further: “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” Bring on AQ!

So why is applied improvisation so perfect for increasing AQ? Because you make choices in the moment. There’s no script - it’s a robust framework. Understand the framework and then practise, practise, practise.

Do you have high AQ? Can you bend like bamboo in the wind? Do you bend gracefully under pressure? Having an agile mindset is a lot like dancing in the rain, rather than waiting for the storm to pass; to thrive rather than survive.

Intrigued to explore more? See you at The next IMPROV Breakfast! We’ll be the ones in the matchy brat green angora sweaters.

Paul and Vic

Register here for the weekly free online IMPROV Breakfast and find out how you can increase your AQ even more.

https://www.improvinc.co.uk/breakfast

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