adaptability, perseverance, resilience
Or the Building Block of Perseverance and Resilience?
We tend to think adaptability is a productivity hack.
It certainly can be—but is that all it is?
In my experience, that belief is one of the greatest disservices to us all.
Let’s explore this together.
Photo by RUN 4 FFWPU
What Adaptability Actually Is
Adaptability is our ability to effectively cope with new, changing, or uncertain circumstances.
It’s the first ability we reach for when something shifts—inside ourselves or around us.
And it’s essential. We wouldn’t survive without it.
But not every change is something we should adapt to.
And not every uncertainty needs coping.
Some changes require creativity, not adaptation.
Some uncertainties need imagination, not endurance.
Adaptability helps us navigate what is.
Creativity helps us shape what might be.
The Productivity Trap
A productivity hack works—until it doesn’t.
When we push our mind, body, and emotions to adapt to situations that actually require creativity or imagination, exhaustion follows.
It’s not a weakness—it’s simply using the wrong tool for the moment.
Think about what happens in practice:
- Job descriptions get wider: I can do it.
- Workload increases: I can do it.
- New responsibilities appear: I can do it.
And we often can—until we can’t.
And always at a cost.
There are still only 24 hours in a day.
More work means borrowing time, energy, or attention from somewhere else.
Maybe from rest. Maybe from relationships. Maybe from the creative thinking that could find a better way forward.
Adaptability isn’t infinite.
It works within a slot—a space of capacity.
Push too far beyond that slot, and we begin to drain our reserves.
So How Does Creativity Help?
By helping us find a better way—because there is always a better way.
When we’ve adapted as much as we can within our current constraints, creativity asks different questions:
- How might I achieve what’s needed within that slot?
- What skill would make this easier?
- What tool or support would lighten the load?
Suddenly, the challenge becomes growth instead of depletion.
The Rare Integration
And sometimes—at the best of times—we get to use both.
Those rare moments when adaptability and creativity meet are the stuff of legends.
When we’re aware of our adaptive range, we recognize what’s missing and what the moment demands.
And that is exactly where creativity is at its best.
So the next time you feel the urge to “push the envelope,” remember:
The force you use must be one you can sustain.
If pushing breaks you, it isn’t growth—it’s depletion.
The Personal Compatibility Zone
And when neither adaptation nor creativity brings balance, the message is simple:
Balance must take precedence—because it is your personal compatibility zone.
This is the space where:
- Your capacity to adapt meets your need to create
- Your ability to cope meets your need to imagine
- Your endurance meets your need for rest and renewal
Understanding your adaptive range isn’t about limiting yourself.
It’s about recognizing the difference between sustainable growth and unsustainable depletion.
It’s about knowing when to adapt, when to create, and when to step back and redesign the game entirely.
From Personal to Systemic
This same principle applies to the systems we build—organizations, economies, industries.
Systems have adaptive ranges too.
Push them beyond their capacity to adapt without redesigning their structure, and they don’t grow stronger.
They become brittle. They break.
The next post will explore how Adaptive Range applies to the systems we build—and why some transformations strengthen them while others destabilize them.
Because just like us, systems need to know the difference between adaptation and transformation.
And they need to know when each one is required.
