“A fundamental shift has taken place in the world of work.”
Permanent forces of change are taking hold in the form of globalisation, technological shifts, and economic and political uncertainty. Everythig is faster, more interconnected, complex, and ambiguous than ever before. As a result, the era of job stability and predictability is now a thing of the past.
The only way to survive, let alone thrive, in the face of such overwhelming change is to adapt at the same pace of the change, if not even faster.
This means being able to develop new skills in the blink of an eye, to face unfamiliar challenges without a “playbook” to guide you, to find an answer when the problem itself isn’t clear.
In short, you have to become adept at knowing what to do when you don’t know what to do.”
The above extract from “FYI For Learning Agility” illustrates the great need to keep learning and adapting these days.
The secret, the authors say, is something called Learning Agility. People with high Learning Agility learn from every experience and can then apply that learning to perform successfully in new situations or first-time situations.
They describe Learning Agility as comprising five factors:
- Self-Awareness
- Mental Agility
- People Agility
- Change Agility
- Results Agility
People can learn this important attribute and with deliberate practice and the support of a good executive coach can make meaningful improvements.
“When the winds of change rage, some build shelters while others build windmills.”
-Chinese proverb.
