How to Adapt for Success
There is a profound difference between conformity and adaptability.
The “greats” seem to instinctively understand this difference, and while they disdain conformity, they cherish the courageous ability to adjust to changing circumstances. Conformity is the negative quality of blending in, becoming average, refusing to stand out or capitalize on one’s uniqueness. Adaptability is the positive quality of being able to sense the shift in wind direction and proactively adjust one’s course to take advantage of that wind shift. While conformity is a weakness based upon fear of rejection, adaptability is a strength based upon confidence in oneself and in one’s own judgment and abilities.
The key to adaptability is one’s willingness to change. The “greats” understand that change is inevitable, and they realize that a person’s capacity to accept change is a key element of growth and success. They also realize the world isn’t standing still and they can’t stand still either. They must change or be swept away in a tidal wave of change as it inevitably sweeps across the landscape.
The fact of the matter is that no human condition is permanent. There are seasons in life, just as there are seasons in nature. Back in 1965, The Byrds recorded a best-selling song that was written by Pete Seeger and based on the writings of King Solomon in the biblical book of Ecclesiastes. The song, “Turn, Turn, Turn,” quotes a lot of the observations of Solomon, including his well-known adage that “to everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). So the smartest man who ever lived observed that the things of life change. They wax and wane. They move. Life seems to come in seasons. Solomon was saying, in effect, that happy and successful people need to understand this reality of living in the world, and they need to get with it. To resist change is to resist reality and invite utter disappointment, heartache, and failure.
Nothing in this life will last forever, and I guess this truth can be viewed as both an encouraging and a discouraging reality. While the storms of life are destined to move on, so are the beautiful things of life. But this is the way life is, and the “greats” recognize this fact rather than resist it. The wise people of this world embrace this reality rather than reject it. The primary truth I want to convey in this chapter is that change is inevitable, but it is possible to be happy in the midst of change and even to utilize change to one’s advantage. The “greats” have learned to do this and have made their penchant for change one of their strongest assets in the pursuit of excellence.
Spencer Johnson wrote a phenomenal book on the subject of change. I highly recommend it. The book is entitled, Who Moved My Cheese? (New York: GP Putnams’s Sons, 1998). Written as a parable, the book imparts some real insights into the subject of change and how to deal with it successfully. Until a person can deal with change in a useful way, he won’t enjoy life to the fullest and won’t be able to succeed in life either. But those who are prepared for change and those who can navigate it successfully are those who will travel through life with greater enjoyment and greater results. So learn to change quickly and learn to enjoy change, because things will change whether you want them to or not.
The undeniable truth is that the faster you can turn loose of what used to work and embrace what’s working now, the sooner you can enjoy where you are and where you are going with your life. The faster you can embrace the benefits of change and the positive aspects of growth, the sooner you can begin to enjoy your journey from today to tomorrow. Learn to celebrate change. If you can, you will be healthier, happier, and far more relevant. If you can, you will be able to appreciate the accomplishments you have made to date while anticipating greater achievements in the days ahead.
Past accomplishments can often serve as a reflection of one’s abilities, but by themselves they are never a good predictor of one’s future potential. Until an accomplished person is willing to change, his past achievements simply remain in the past. Sometimes I feel sorry for those people who gloat over their past achievements, because I know that when a storm finally hits and a cold front moves in, these people might not be able to change with their environment. They might not be able to recognize the shift in the winds or adapt to life’s modifying seasons. These kinds of people often lose everything during seasons of change because they get swept away by the changes. Rather than riding the waves of change like an expert surfer, they allow the waves of change to break over their heads and sweep them away in a powerful undercurrent that eventually pulls them down and drowns them. They weren’t prepared to move with that which is new, so they became victims instead of overcomers.
Know that conditions around you will change, and they will change constantly. Consequently, be patient with life and with yourself and refuse to give up. Keep doing what you are destined to do, but learn to do it in new ways. Adjust. Transition. Adapt. Hang in there, but learn to go with the flow. Learn to fit in with your culture and with the society in which you live. And learn from the advice of the apostle Paul who said, “…Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9).
One of the few elements of life that is unchanging is change. In fact, just about the only thing in life that doesn’t change is the fact that things change. So if you want to be successful and relevant, you need to learn to embrace change, celebrate it, and make it part of your life. This very moment, everything within you and everything around you is changing. If you refuse to let your thinking and your methods change with everything else, you are going to become irrelevant very quickly and be left in the dust by those who are willing and able to adapt and evolve.
As you read this, the very cells of your body are changing. At this precise moment, the earth is changing. Before you go to bed tonight, the laws of our land will change, the economy will change, communications will change, and somebody somewhere will invent a new computer chip or improve an existing one and technology will change. In fact, before you return to work tomorrow, some aspect of the way you do business will change, and before you rise in the morning, some aspect of the way you live life will change.
John F. Kennedy said, “Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” When change occurs, therefore, you have two choices. You can cooperate with change or you can resist it. You can embrace it or you can fight it. You can learn to recognize the benefits of change and view change as an opportunity for growth and new experiences, or you can denounce change as the work of the devil and dig your heels in as you rapidly become the latest species of dinosaur to go extinct. The choice is yours. But the “greats” have learned to embrace change wholeheartedly. In fact, they see change as an ally, not a foe, as a friend, not an enemy. They view change through their paradigm of optimism and see it as a catalyst for growth and a launching pad for greater success. They don’t see it as a threat or a challenge; they view it as a healthy opportunity to go where they’ve never been before.
Of course, there are different kinds of change. Some changes are natural and they occur in predictable cycles. The stock market goes up and down every day, the hot summer months are followed every winter with frost and snow, and while holiday shopping drains our wallets every December, our tax refund checks arrive every spring. We accept these natural cycles of life as ordinary, and we have little or no difficulty adjusting to the ebb and flow of the seasons of nature, the seasons of the economy, and the seasons of life. In fact, many of us actually look forward to these predictable forms of change, because they keep us from becoming bored.
But other changes aren’t so easy for some people to accept. The personal computer and all the gadgets created to work with it have forever changed the look and shape of everyday life. Debit and credit cards have basically made cash a thing of the past. Online shopping and electronic banking make it possible to live a somewhat normal life without ever leaving home or interfacing with a real human being. In my short lifetime, I have seen multiple changes in the way we live, the way we work, the way we get our news and information, the way we shop, the way we communicate, and the way we socialize, all because the world refuses to stand still and remain the same. It is sobering sometimes to contemplate the fact that these things will never go back to the way they were. The world is moving on. I have to decide whether I will move with it or wave goodbye to those old familiar things as the rest of humanity disappears over the horizon of progress.
Unfortunately, too many people do stand on their front porches, buggy whip in hand or Model T Ford in the driveway, and wave goodbye to progress. Too many resist change, and they resist change on various levels. Not only do they resist changes in music, fashion, and technology, but they also resist change in more fundamental things. They resist changes on their jobs, in their churches, in their neighborhoods, in their communities, and in society. But if you would honestly think about it, you would have to admit that changes in your own life have worked out for the good more often than the bad. Even though you resisted them at the time, they turned out to be positive modifications in the landscape of your life.
Just think about times in your own personal history when you experienced a major change. More than likely, you resisted that change at the time. In the very least, you probably deplored it. Maybe you were forced to move. Maybe you were transferred to a new job site. Perhaps your company changed suppliers. Perhaps new management took over the business where you were employed. Maybe your factory relocated or your office took on a new supplier. If you are like most people, you probably didn’t like that change when it first occurred. Nevertheless, the change worked out okay, didn’t it? In fact, most of the changes that have happened to you without your consent or pre-approval probably turned out to be beneficial for you. They turned out good.
I encourage you to keep that historical record in mind the next time you are confronted with change, because the same rule applies today. More often than not, change will be a good thing in your life. If you will keep that thought in the forefront of your mind, you can actually begin approaching each new change in your life with excitement and anticipation instead of fear and loathing. You can actually begin to look forward to the full effects of the change and you can embrace the change with a good attitude.
The next time you find yourself confronted with a major change, ask yourself some honest and probing questions in order to learn whether you are approaching the change with a positive attitude or whether you are subverting the benefits of the change. Ask yourself: Am I doing things to resist this change? Am I secretly afraid of what might happen to me as a result of this change? What is it I’m afraid of losing because of this change? What price would I be forced to pay if I decided not to cooperate with the change? To get onboard with the change, what deliberate steps would I have to take that I am not taking right now?
The key to greatness is to learn how to flow with and embrace change, because everything will eventually change. You need to decide whether you want to move forward with life by seizing life’s sometimes scary opportunities or whether you want to just sink your roots down and dare the forces of nature to try to move you. You can either change or you can be changed. The choice is yours.
Bill Gates didn’t become one of the richest men in the world by resisting change. In fact, he has been one of the driving forces of change in recent times. History will attribute to him many of the great technological changes of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Bill Gates teaches that change is not an optional thing. We cannot take a vote to decide as a society whether we want change, and we cannot opt out of change as individuals. Change is coming to our world each and every day, typically in small, bite-sized pieces. Nevertheless, it is coming, and it is coming steadily and persistently through technology and every other imaginable way.
In fact, in the twenty-first century, we are changing at an unprecedented rate, and no place is changing faster than the United States. Part of the strength of the United States has been its ongoing love affair with change. Since before the founding of our republic, we have been a nation of innovators, entrepreneurs, explorers, and dreamers. As a people, we have embraced change while much of the rest of the world has been slowed down by its superstitions and its nearly immovable traditions. As a society, we have taken advantage of change and we have made it our national mantra. Though the global attitude toward change is finally changing itself, in the past, too many cultures have tried to hide from change and resist it. They have fought a losing battle in a vain attempt to resist change. They have tried to build walls to keep it out of their countries. But what many of these cultures are finally learning is that both individuals and nations have a decision to make: One can either embrace change and become better because of it, or one can resist change and be crushed by its inevitable advance.
Perhaps you’ve heard the story of the two frogs that were dropped into separate pots of water. One frog was dropped into boiling water; the other frog was dropped into room-temperature water that was gradually brought to a boil. The frog that was dropped into the pot filled with boiling water immediately jumped out of the pot. He was scalded a little, but he was alive. But the frog that was dropped into the room-temperature water remained in the pot while the temperature of the water was gradually increased, one degree at a time.
Eventually, the frog in the room-temperature water was boiled, because he stayed in the pot. The frog that was dropped into the boiling water was a little wounded, but he lived to croak another day. Other than the fact that one frog lived and the other one died, what was the difference between the two frogs and the way they handled the situation?
The first frog accepted change. When he was placed in the pot of boiling water, he immediately reacted to the difference in temperature and he did something about it. He jumped out of the water. The second frog resisted change. When he noticed the temperature of the water gradually increasing, he decided to do nothing. He decided to resist the change and try to “ride it out.” So while the surviving frog changed, the dying frog was changed.
That’s the way it is with change. We humans can either change or we can be changed. We can either adapt with the times and circumstances, or we can be crushed by the steamroller of change that is coming our way whether we like it or not. The second frog ignored the warning signs, but everything around him told him that things were changing and that he needed to change too. Whether it was fear or stubbornness, his resistance to change destroyed him. Resistance to change destroys many people, too.
Change is occurring everywhere, and it is occurring faster than ever before. Yes, even the rate of change is changing. Throughout most of the world’s history, change has taken place very slowly. Cultures have been very hesitant to surrender their social institutions, cultural rituals, and familiar ways of life. Throughout ancient times and even the Middle Ages, the human mindset resisted change. And in some places of the world, like Afghanistan, one can still see how that mindset and historical resistance to change can grip an entire culture of people.
Beginning with the Industrial Revolution, change started coming more quickly to the world, particularly to those nations that participated in the industrialization of the planet. From the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century, change came to the world at a rapid and unprecedented rate. In the field of technology, especially, there were phenomenal breakthroughs that fundamentally changed the way we live our lives, and these technological innovations came in rapid succession as the world’s population began to understand the advantages of change.
In the first decade of the twentieth century, the automobile became a fixed part of human life. The mass production of automobiles began to make it possible for people everywhere to own and drive a car, thus dramatically improving their possibilities for travel. In the 1920s, the radio changed the way the world got its information. In the 1930s, the telephone became a mainstay in America and forever changed the way we communicate. In the 1940s, commercial aviation again altered the way we travel and made it possible for people to experience places and cultures that had been a mystery to them prior to this time. In the 1950s, the television became a fixture in virtually every American home, changing the way we view the world and the way we spend our leisure time and relate to our family members. In the 1960s, the first robot was invented and space travel and satellite technology began to impact every facet of our existence. And in the 1970s, the personal computer started emerging.
In each of these giant steps forward, there was significant change. While some people embraced these changes and built their lives upon them, other people resisted these advances and were left in the dust. Those who accepted change, however, realized its value to the human condition and the desire for more change became a driving motivation that accelerated the pace of change to the point we know it today. Demand for more and more inventions and innovations has driven the world’s economies, causing factories to work overtime and research and development teams to burn the midnight oil.
Over time, the Industrial Revolution, which gave credence to change, has given way to the Information Revolution, and consequently the rate of change has become unprecedented. Whereas it used to take technology years or decades to change, today it changes at a rate that makes today’s purchases nearly obsolete before you can get them home and get them unpacked. And what does the future hold? More change at an even faster rate! So my advice to you is to hang on and enjoy the ride. In fact, if possible, take advantage of it. That’s what the “greats” do. But if you decide to fight change or to hide from it, you’re going to be like a Model T at the Indianapolis 500. The speed of change and innovation is going to literally blow you off the track as it passes you by and leaves you in the dust of antiquity. Information is expanding. The world is changing. Make up your mind to change with it.
I cannot judge your heart because I do not know you, but if you are reading this, you probably want things to be better in your life. You want things to be different. The basic premise of this book is that, for things to get better in your life, you have to get better first. And the only way you are going to get better is by changing some things in your life. Nobody ever got better by remaining the way he was. To improve anything about yourself or your life, you must change some things about yourself or your life. If you refuse to change things in your life today, then tomorrow will simply be a repeat of today. In fact, you won’t really have a tomorrow; you will only have a longer today. So if you are serious about getting ahead, if you are serious about modifying the direction of your life, if you are serious about making tomorrow better than today, you must change. You need to ask yourself, “What can I do today to make tomorrow different?”
Tom Peters, one of the authors of In Search of Excellence (New York, Harper, 2004), explains that change is disruptive, but that the disruptive nature of change doesn’t make any difference. We all have to endure change whether we want to or not. Because Peters wrote about some of the world’s most successful and innovative companies, he knows that we live in an era where the unbridled acceptance of change is the only course of survival and particularly the sole course for future growth. If you want your life, your relationships, your financial situation, your health, or your business endeavors to improve, you need to do something different. You are going to have to change. “Better” is always preceded by change.
When all is said and done, most of us want all the same things out of life. We want to be happy and healthy. We want to own nice homes. We want to drive nice automobiles. We want financial security for ourselves and our families. We want to provide our children with the best possible educations and a head start toward secure and fulfilling lives of their own. If these are your goals and you’re not walking a course that is taking you toward them, you need to make some changes in the direction you are traveling or in the way you are moving forward. If you truly want the rest of your life to be the best of your life, you simply have to do something different.
There’s a true story I ran across a few years ago that really drove home to me the importance of change and the absolute necessity for people to become adaptable in their thinking. This story has captivated me ever since I first heard it. It’s about two brothers who were born during the 1960s and who grew up in Richmond, California, a beautiful community across the bay from San Francisco. Michael and Chris were well-behaved boys. They got good grades in school. They stayed out of trouble. They obeyed their parents.
Part of a large working-class family with eight children, Michael and Chris knew what it was like to go through occasional financial want, so the boys often had to go without the things that other boys their age enjoyed. At times, things got so financially difficult for their parents that Michael and Chris actually went without food. They were hungry. So they began to steal things to eat. From the age of five until their freshman year of high school, the two brothers would sneak crackers from the cupboard, shoplift cookies from the grocery store, take sandwiches from people, and even steal small amounts of money from their parents to buy food.
When Michael and Chris entered high school, however, they changed schools and were bussed across town for their classes. Then, at the conclusion of the boys’ freshman year of high school, something happened that made one of the boys decide to change his life. Chris got his end-of-the-year report card and discovered he had made three A’s and three F’s. Realizing that his school only allowed three failing grades over the four-year program, Chris decided he wanted to turn his life around. He did not want to be forced to drop out of school. So he made up his mind to change some things.
It wasn’t easy for Chris to change. Few people really supported him. Chris’ brother, Michael, did not join him in his new endeavor. Chris’ friends badgered him and abandoned him. The people who did not like Chris before the change continued to reject him. Chris took a lot of “flack” for his bold decision. Nevertheless, he decided to change his ways. He stopped stealing. He started studying and working hard. That moment became a pivotal point in Chris’ life.
Michael also made a key decision at this time. As I have already noted, he decided to stay on the path he was walking. Nothing changed in Michael’s life. Nothing changed in his thinking. While Chris finished high school and enrolled in college, Michael decided to join the Army. While Chris went on to law school, Michael returned from his tour of duty just to hang out in the streets with his old friends. While Chris worked hard, eventually becoming the deputy district attorney for Los Angeles County, Michael started hustling to earn money and started taking illegal drugs to numb the pain and fill the void in his life.
Eventually, Chris Darden became one of the lead prosecutors in the O.J. Simpson murder trial. Eventually, Michael Darden died of AIDS at the age of forty-two. A story of both triumph and tragedy, this true account of the divergent lives of two brothers enables us to see that who we are and what we become is not so much a matter of circumstance as it is a matter of choice. The choices we make will determine who we become, and the changes we either make or refuse to make will determine the course we walk in life and the epitaph that will be written on our tombstone.
You have to choose to get better or choose to get bitter. You have to choose to improve your life by improving yourself or you have to choose to stay the same by doing nothing or by actually moving backward. Whether you are fifteen or sixty-five, your decisions right now have the power to dramatically impact your future and to actually alter your destination in life. Your decision to be adaptable and to be able to sense the changing tides and take advantage of them is key to the quality of life you will know.
We learned from the frogs that a person can either decide to be different or decide to stay like they are. We learned from Chris and Michael that a person can either change or be changed. While Chris changed, Michael was changed. He was changed by the streets, he was changed by drugs, and he was changed by AIDS, which eventually killed him. While Michael lived the life of a criminal, Chris became a prosecutor who did something about the problem of crime. You can be part of the problem, or you can be part of the solution. You can be part of the new world, or you can foolishly cling to all that is outdated and irrelevant. It’s up to you. But the decision to be a driving force for all that is worthwhile is basically a decision to change yourself so you can be in a position to change others and change the world.
Chris changed his attitude. He changed his priorities. He went from being an underachiever to being an honor student. He went from being a pessimist to being an optimist. And eventually, Chris changed his destiny. You can change your destiny, too, but not by keeping everything the same. You can only create a different outcome after you create a different approach.
When all is said and done, you have a choice, just like the two frogs or the two brothers from Richmond. You can live a life of frustration and mediocrity, or you can live a life that is worthy of who you are inside. Like Chris Darden, you can create a story through your life that can be an inspiration to others. But the most obvious fact is that you can’t make things different in your life by keeping them the same. You can’t turn your life around without changing directions. Don’t be like most people who could have been happier, greater, wealthier, or more fulfilled. Start making the necessary changes today so you can become the person God wants you to be tomorrow. Be adaptable to new climates and new situations and don’t be afraid to sow the seeds of change before the sun goes down. If you do, you will reap a harvest of g when it rises again.
