It may not be pretty but it may just work

When we make up a solution, put together a near enough or good enough fix for something, it may not be pretty. And it may not be perfect.

For some of us who like our precision, accuracy, completeness and alignment, we might also prefer things to be ‘just so’, working well and of the highest quality. But in times when we are finding and needing hacks and short cuts to make things work, it’s worth allowing some leeway.

If we can allow things to be a bit clunky, imperfect, basic and rudimentary, it will relieve the pressure on those who are doing their best.

Human ingenuity is at work and while it’s clever, it might not have the highest fidelity on the first pass. Better will come over time. 

Thinking and working in uncertainty

It’s mindless to just wander, lost, meandering along a path of uncertainty. Just because you don’t know what’s going to happen doesn’t mean you are powerless.

Some of the most adaptable leaders, teams and organisations work with uncertainty and are ‘good’ with it.

The work I do with these leaders and teams involves working through this kind of mindset and approach: ◽️Uncertainty - we don’t know

◽️Discovery - we can learn

◽️Ingenuity - we can respond

And repeat. As we see new things - via sensemaking, making sense of happenings in hindsight - we’re learning, ready to respond with our collective smarts to solve problems, deliver value and improve situations.

And repeat.

This isn’t fear based but practical skills put to work problem solving, thinking, questioning, collaborating, designing and responding.

Rather than getting in a flap about not knowing ‘anything’ or thinking we need to know ‘everything', these are the ways of working in uncertainty. As we discover, we learn and we can change how we respond. And if we don’t, we’re not such a smart species after all.

If you don’t think you're creative...

While we hear that creativity is even more important in today’s crazy world, it’s a big shift for some of us to believe ourselves to be creative... or capable of creative thinking and inventive work.

I’m not here to debate your level of creativity so could we just look at this another way? With another word?

Let’s go for INGENUITY. It’s not creativity on steroids or more or bigger.

It’s different.

Creativity is about being generative, inventive, it's the making.

Ingenuity is about being resourceful and being able to use the skills you have, the resources on hand to fix something, solve something or find a clever way of working it out.

When we put our smarts to work on solving a challenge, this is being resourceful, using what we have, accessing whatever we can. It’s a sweeter, more helpful and practical mindset than thinking we have to be creative, running the tiresome loop that is the ‘I’m not creative’/‘oh yes you are’ game. That does little to give us more resourceful ways of thinking and working!

Think more about using what’s already available to you (that’s ingenuity), using whatever resources you can access, and worry less about whether you’re being creative enough. 

4 more ideas on adaptability

9 - Ingenuity

The Institute for the Future's 2020 skills included novel and adaptive thinking. We’ve got to find ways to be more resourceful and clever to get more of the right things done. This means hacking ourselves, hacking our systems and processes, and quite possibly, hacking other people too!

10 - Empathy

To understand and feel what others are experiencing is a power shift to make; from caring less to caring more. Trust goes deeper, quicker, and it’s not about you, it’s about them.

11 - Creativity

The subtle art of making things up is a human capability we’re born with - ranking highly on the list of the World Economic Forum's future work skills. Creativity creeps up higher in the rankings each year! The cry of ‘I’m not creative’ is done. Time to change that script!

12 - Curiosity

Our childlike wonder has been replaced with compliance, following rules and systems without knowing why. Don't jump to solutions, deny or discount; wonder more.

There you have 12 ideas about adaptability; it's THE capability of today.