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A is for Adaptability you can actually feel
- Philippa Fairbrother
- Jan 12
- 2 min read
Welcome! This article is part of an A–Z series where I’m sharing reflections on the patterns I keep seeing in teams, leadership and workplace culture.
Not theory. Not tips. Just observations from real working life.
Adaptability is one of those words that gets used a lot when businesses are changing. Growth. Restructures. New systems. New people. But in real life, adaptability often shows up as tension.
It looks like leaders repeating themselves and still not feeling heard. People nodding in meetings and then quietly doing something different afterwards. A heaviness in the room when another change is announced, even when it’s a good one.
You see it in the small things. Eye rolls. Silence. Frustration that feels bigger than the situation. Conversations that happen everywhere except where they actually need to.
You see the same thing outside of work too.
Think about what happens when plans change at short notice. A cancelled arrangement. A last-minute change of venue. A family plan that suddenly shifts. Some people shrug and adapt quickly. Others feel unsettled or irritated. Some want to talk it through. Others go quiet and deal with it internally.
Nobody is being difficult. They’re just responding to uncertainty in their own way.
At work, the stakes might feel higher, but the behaviour is often exactly the same.
Leaders often tell me they feel like they’re carrying the emotional weight of everyone else. Teams tell a different story. Change feels constant and there’s an unspoken expectation to just cope and crack on.
Most people aren’t resisting change because they don’t care. They’re reacting in the only way they know how.
Those reactions come from experience. What’s felt safe before. Whether speaking up has helped or hurt. Whether slowing things down has been welcomed or criticised. Under pressure, people lean into what’s familiar.
Some push forward.
Some slow down.
Some talk it through.
Some withdraw.
None of that is wrong. But when it isn’t understood, it creates friction.
Adaptability starts to improve when people feel safe enough to say what they need. When leaders get curious instead of frustrated. When behaviour is treated as information, not attitude.
That’s usually when the tension drops and change starts to feel lighter.
If this resonated, it’s probably because you’re seeing it too.
Philippa x
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