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Can we learn to be flexible?

As technology recasts entire industries and jobs are transformed — or eliminated — by automation and artificial intelligence, it is almost impossible to predict the skills we will need in the future. One talent that experts believe is worth honing, however, is the ability to adapt.

Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella, seen here in a mentoring session, credits Prof Carol Dweck and her research on "growth mindsets" with transforming his approach to working life.

Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella, seen here in a mentoring session, credits Prof Carol Dweck and her research on "growth mindsets" with transforming his approach to working life.

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Every day, Leonard Mlodinow sets himself small personal challenges, such as ordering the least popular dish on the menu.

The author of Elastic: Flexible Thinking in a Constantly Changing World, says it is a trick that helps to develop his curiosity — even if he does eat odd lunches in restaurants.

Another strategy is starting a conversation with a stranger, asking for their views and really listening to their answer.

“It is a good mental exercise to get outside of the bubble,” he says.

To friends and workmates, he advises a programme of regular challenges to develop curiosity and help them to become more flexible.

This is important because “professionals in all fields must be good at adaptation”.

As technology recasts entire industries and jobs are transformed — or eliminated — by automation and artificial intelligence, it is almost impossible to predict the skills we will need in the future.

One talent that experts believe is worth honing, however, is the ability to adapt.

So argued Henry Levin, professor of economics and education at Columbia University.

In 2012, he wrote a paper called The Importance of Educational Adaptability in which he said the traditional view of the role of education — to increase productivity — was to help students master skills and increase output.

That had changed, argued Prof Levin, to one in which the “greatest gains in worker productivity” were through workers’ ability to adapt.

HOW TO BE FLEXIBLE

Can anyone learn to be flexible? Bradley Staats, author of Never Stop Learning: Stay Relevant, Reinvent Yourself, and Thrive says everyone can at least develop flexibility.

“Learning is a kind of behaviour. We can change our behaviour, and everyone can develop. Is there a higher potential for development for some than others? The answer is probably.”

The longer people stay in an organisation or field, the more likely they are to lose their sense of curiosity, he says.

Take a risk and ask stupid questions: “That’s where the learning takes place.”

He tries to write daily reflections on the working day that help in two ways.

First, we often know more than we realise, “so as we write, we codify the knowledge that is in our heads and so learn”, he says.

“Secondly, we are able to see the problems that need attention — creating motivation to change — and then start to address them.”

Emotional intelligence helps workers adapt, says Jochen Menges, lecturer in organisational behaviour at Cambridge Judge Business School.

Change elicits emotional responses, such as feeling overwhelmed or wanting to run away.

“That’s OK, but how do you deal with that emotion? We can lament the changing world but we’re not going to be able to stop it.”

Being aware of reactions, pausing to take stock and regulating them is important.

Fear is the biggest reason for inflexibility, says Rachael Chong, founder of Catchafire, an online platform connecting skilled volunteers with non-profit organisations.

The New York-based former banker encourages flexibility in her employees by putting them in situations “where they have to stretch outside their comfort zones” — for example by giving them work beyond their level of experience.

The point, she says, is to create a flexible workforce that can meet new challenges, rather than “just trying to be flexible for flexibility’s sake”.

FIXED OR FLUID?

Aneeta Rattan, assistant professor of organisational behaviour at London Business School, studies “growth mindsets” — an area of research forged by Carol Dweck, the social psychologist and author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (2006).

This means that ability and talent are not fixed at birth but developed over time, and with practice.

Those who believe their intelligence is innate and fixed tend to act defensively, validating their status, swerving challenges in case they reveal flaws.

Satya Nadella, chief executive of Microsoft, credits Prof Dweck with transforming his approach to working life.

“People’s beliefs about their ability to change and about other people’s ability to change shapes outcomes,” says Prof Rattan.

“If you believe you can’t change, you are less likely to put in effort to change,” she says.

“When experiencing challenges, people with a fixed mindset think: ‘This is uncomfortable, I’m walking away.’ They end up learning less, which sets people up for self-fulfilling prophecies.”

By explaining the mindset concept, and rewarding the process of learning rather than simply the outcome, employees can change. “When we struggle to succeed, we need to evaluate why, figure out strategies to change our behaviour. If someone is leading a team, and the project has not gone well, the idea of a growth mindset is not about ignoring failure, but saying: ‘Our team failed, where did we go wrong and where could we go better?’

The approach must be to interrogate that failure.” Most workers are motivated to succeed, she adds — so employers need not worry that staff will relax and repeat their failures.

Leah Weiss, author of How We Work: Live Your Purpose, Reclaim Your Sanity, and Embrace the Daily Grind, says mentoring can help people become flexible.

“Employees need to understand that the people we admire and respect haven’t had linear paths, life is messy and we make imperfect decisions.”

BEWARE BAD MANAGEMENT

But flexibility can be a trap — and an excuse for bad management. For some employers, the concept is shorthand for forcing workers into accepting unfavourable conditions.

René Durazzo, an executive coach, says this often arises “when executives or supervisors want to make changes and expect employees to go along”.

Staff can be branded inflexible if they resist managerial changes, says Mr Durazzo.

“But the real problem is how executives are presenting and managing the change. What might look like a staff flexibility problem is really a change management problem.”

An effective manager has the skills to bring out an employee’s willingness to be open, he adds.

The challenge is to become “capable of becoming genuinely open and curious about how a different way of thinking or acting might be worth exploring and adopting”.

In other words, ask lots of questions. If managers are unwilling to cultivate these qualities themselves, says Mr Durazzo, they cannot expect employees to do the same.

They must invest “time and energy to establish trusting and supportive relationships with staff. Without this foundation, employees will meet requests for flexibility with cynicism.” THE FINANCIAL TIMES

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Emma Jacobs is a features writer for the Financial Times, with a particular focus on workplace trends, business culture and entrepreneurship.

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