I’ve been thinking a lot about water recently. My Vancouver friends won’t find this surprising given the time of year – it rains a lot in Vancouver in January and this year has been far from an anomaly. And despite my growing enmity for the rain, I’m also fascinated by it.
Think about the process of rain clouds for example – water evaporating from the ocean as vapor only to return to land and sea in the form of precipitation. Very cool. And water is one of a select few elements that exists in all three physical states at once on our planet. It can dissolve more substances in it than any other material known to humans. It has a remarkably strong ability to resist changes in temperatures – allowing it to absorb and release large amounts of heat energy without actually changing temperature very much. And, it is literally the essence of life.
It’s fluid, adaptable, and always seems to find a way. And it is in these characteristics where the secrets to being agile lie. The world is in constant change, technology and shifting geo-political fictions mean that your business or the company you work for will most likely be operating in a very different world in the near future. Most companies outside of the tech industry are already experiencing the growing pains of trying to digitally transform – arguably one of the greatest corporate culture challenges of the 21st century.
In addition, the world has moved into a new and unsettling geo-political phase. International relations now play out in increasingly diverse ways to include cyber sources of hard and soft power, reconfigured trade and investment, and intensified global commerce – where companies often yield more power than many (if not all) countries. Coupled with technology, these changes are shifting the world we live in at an unprecedented rate and according to Bloomberg, it’s only going to get faster.
So how do you keep up? If agile, nimble, and resilient are the words that describe the successful employees and entrepreneurs of tomorrow – how do we be more like this?
Be Fluid: This is a feeling or way of approaching people, projects, and your work in general. Being fluid means asking questions about convention and letting go of it when necessary, and shifting the way you show up. It’s more than just being ok or fine with the way things are changing, and instead actually embracing it. It means working with the ebbs and flow of change not against it and filling the containers we find ourselves in.
Be Adaptable: Water is powerful because of it’s adaptability – observed through the many forms it can take. Similarly, we must be willing and able to adapt our behaviours and ways of thinking to the situations and circumstances we encounter. At the core of our adaptability is our attitude – our willingness. So be flexible. Be confident, tolerant, empathetic, and approach change with a positive attitude. As noted in the Tower Watson’s Global Workforce Study, the way we approach change greatly impacts our ability to manage it. This study found that those who take a positive approach to change are three times more likely to be engaged at work than those who prefer stability.
Find a Way: Water has an incredible ability to find a way over, around, or through the obstacles in its path. Like streams, rivulets, and rivers in the mountains makes a path downward, we too must forge our way. Being agile isn’t always about completely redefining ourselves, it’s about working through and around contention, continuously learning and upskilling, and being determined. Significant change in the near future is certain to bring difficulties in our work lives and beyond, but if we are steadfast like flowing water we are sure to find our way.
Being agile is about our consciousness and our mindset towards change – it is a way of being. The more fluid, adaptable, and determined we are, the better suited we will be to manage the changes happening today and those to come tomorrow. In words of the great late Bruce Lee:
“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.
Check out these 100 amazing facts about water to learn more about my fascination.
—
This article was originally published on LinkedIn – January 6, 2019.