Words like pivot, innovate and reinvent cropped up a lot in boardrooms and business media since the start of the Covid pandemic. As the resultant lockdown continued to impact jobs and increase unemployment, words we’ve always used in relation to artificial intelligence, another threat to employment, were heard: reskill, hybrid, unlearn, relearn.

After all, as long ago as 1859 Charles Darwin wrote in The Origin of Species: ‘It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, it is the one that is the most adaptable to change.’ We’ve seen just how true that is in the past year.

But to change, whether it’s evolving to grow legs or implement a new business model, requires building something new which makes the existing model obsolete. Therefore we are reminded that the organisational paradigm relies heavily on individuals’ and teams’ ability to cope, to manage and prioritise their tasks and responsibilities, and to be curious and determined enough to want to create something new.

When uncertainty and constant change become the norm, our ability to adapt becomes increasingly important. How, then, does resilience, adaptability, flexibility and the ability to learn and think look in organisations?

The benefits of being curious and adaptable

In the extreme, job descriptions set duties and responsibilities in transactional organisations where black and white are clearly distinguishable. A clear, hierarchical chain of command largely determines tasks and priorities. Flexibility is not necessarily a virtue.

On the other end of the spectrum, hybrid organisations mix everything together and combine elements of for-profit, non-profit, market- and mission-oriented practices and beliefs. They specifically develop in search of flexibility by using different organisational patterns and hierarchical structures.

In terms of organisational adaptability, the ideal would be a combination of the two that offers hybrid flexibility as well as transactional stability.

Organisations that are not afraid of curiosity, changing the status quo and allowing questions from all ranks find it easier to redesign. Such a structure would be much more fluid, implying that responsibility resides within a functional/operational area, and that no functional/operational area can operate in isolation. Such a structure will depict the interdependence without which nobody can complete tasks productively. Allowing for flexibility therefore benefits everybody and ensures teamwork.

How to identify adaptability and flexibility when interviewing candidates

While adaptability is often seen as a personality trait that is fixed, many researchers believe that it can be learnt. After all, millions of people around the world had to adapt almost overnight to working from home, virtual meetings and attending classes and lectures online.

Even when it’s not a trial by fire, as many of the changes brought by the pandemic have been, change is difficult, even uncomfortable. As Eric Hoffer states in The Ordeal of Change: ‘We can never really be prepared for the wholly new. We have to adjust ourselves, and every radical adjustment is a crisis in self-esteem.’ Thus he reiterates the importance of individual attitudes towards change, which largely determine adaptability.

In view of this, it might not always be possible to find out whether an interviewee is adaptable, or to what extent, but it should be possible to establish whether they are open to change and adapting to it.

Interview questions that could reveal an applicant’s adaptability and flexibility include:

• How would you respond if you were assigned tasks outside of your job description?
• Would you be willing to learn a new skill? What if this new skill fell outside your current field?
• How do you respond when instructions change quickly?
• How comfortable are you outside your comfort zone?

To get specific examples of adaptable or flexible behaviour, Victoria Butt, an Australian executive search specialist, suggests asking:

• When was the last time you learnt something genuinely new?
• What is a strongly held belief which you have recently changed your opinion on?
• When was the last time you received feedback from a superior? What was it and how have you responded to it?
• If you found yourself heading up this organisation, what would be the first three priorities/initiatives you would roll out?
• How do you typically learn new things? Please provide examples.

Also read ‘What stops talented people from reaching their full potential?’ in the latest issue of MiNDSPACE, Old Mutual Corporate’s magazine for founders and business leaders.