Lori Howard's Key Ideas from The Adaptation Advantage
by Heather E. McGowan, Chris Shipley

Foundational - People who operate and execute the core functions of a company.

Rotational - People who fulfill specialized roles periodically as needed by the organization.

Contingent - People who provide niche skills and services for specific, temporary needs.

Transformational - People who help guide organizational adaptation and strategic shifts.

Executive - People who align and optimize the diverse talents within an organization.

Organizations will rely on networks of specialized teams that form as needed from these talent pools.

Given career volatility, youth need adaptability - not fixed job aspirations.

With an average 17 job changes over a lifetime, workers must cultivate transferable skills and resilience.

Acquiring/Storing Knowledge

The first generation focuses on acquiring and codifying knowledge through documentation and training. This captures institutional knowledge but risks rigidity.

Optimizing Efficiency

The second generation optimizes processes and structures for maximum efficiency based on product and business lifecycles. However, this adaptability is limited.

Continuous Real-Time Improvement

The third generation creates rapid autonomous learning loops to iterate offerings in real-time based on data. This accelerates innovation and adaptability.

With constant change, vital skills expand beyond technical abilities.

Workers need mental agility, social-emotional intelligence, creativity, judgment, sensemaking, and empathy to thrive in uncertainty.

In the past, many leaders focused on extracting maximum value and efficiency from processes and employees - often fostering competitive, non-collaborative environments.

However, in a fast changing world, merely optimizing the status quo is insufficient. Leaders now need to enable continuous organizational learning, adaptation, and humane working conditions that bring out the best in employees.

The priority is creating workplace cultures and systems where people can rapidly learn, adapt, and innovate together in a healthy environment - not rigid structures optimized for short-term extraction of value from human capital.

This shift requires leaders to be more systems-oriented designers who build organizational resilience through unleashing human potential.

Adaptability is the new competitive advantage.