Number 1 Secret to Long Term Career Success: Adaptability

By Larry Boyer, Career Coach & Personal Branding Strategist

Do you believe the old adage in "The Survival of the Fittest" of "The Strongest Survive?" Are you working longer hours to prove your value? Are you focusing your career attention on gaining more expertise? Working harder? Getting better and better at what you do?

These ideas are all based off an incorrect popular interpretation of Darwinism, and they are just as wrong for biological survival as they are for your career to survive let alone thrive. The true secret to success is: Adaptability.

Even in the world of evolutionary Darwinism, it is those who are able to adapt to a changing environment who are able to survive the best. In fact, the faster the environment is changing, the better off those are who can change and adapt. Strength, power, and intelligence have their place and can certainly be beneficial in stable times. When the world is not changing around you and you know what you can depend on, those who excel in a particular area will rise to the top.  However, that can change. Quickly.

If you don't believe me, take a look at the dinosaurs. They were unquestionably the most powerful creatures on the Earth. However, once the environment changed they were unable to adapt. They were so specialized in surviving and thriving in a particular environment that when the world changed around them they couldn't change. Other creatures were either better suited to the new environment or were better able to adapt. The dinosaurs are extinct now and other creatures are surviving and thriving.

Is Your Career On A Path To Extinction, Surviving or Thriving?

Our world is changing at an increasing fast pace. Technology is evolving so rapidly it's impossible to predict what technology we'll be using in just a few years. Some technologies breakthrough to the consumer market so fast they are almost universally adopted within a few years. Sure there was years of work behind their development, but most of us don't see that and plan for that in our careers. A great example is the iPad and how it has transformed the ability of people to do work in certain fields.

It's not just high tech that's changing, entire economies, financial systems, agriculture, political systems, they're all changing faster and faster. So what does this mean for your long term career?  You need to be adaptable. You need to become comfortable with change and, in fact, embrace change. You don't need to guess where the world is going, that's usually a losing bet whether you are buying stocks, a lottery ticket or predicting your career. You need to learn how to be adaptable, comfortable with change, and be creative to keep finding you new niche and value proposition.

Enjoy this video for a taste of the change we're experiencing. It's a updated version of the famous "Shift Happens" or "Did You Know" video.