Short answer
Adaptability means adjusting plans and working methods when priorities, evidence, or conditions change, while protecting the intended outcome.
About Adaptability
Adjusts plans and working methods when priorities, evidence, or conditions change. Effective adaptation is proportionate and transparent, not constant switching, silent acceptance, or tolerance of avoidable instability.
Use this competency for
- Assessing how someone responds when relevant assumptions, constraints, or priorities change.
- Setting expectations for revising an approach without losing necessary quality or accountability.
Do not use this competency for
- Do not use it to excuse poor planning, reward unbounded availability, or penalize reasonable challenge to unnecessary change.
Important distinctions
Learning & growth
Learning and growth builds capability over time. Adaptability changes the current plan or method in response to new conditions.
Resilience
Resilience often describes recovery under strain. Adaptability evaluates observable changes to work, not an assumed personal capacity to endure.
Expectations by level
IC1
Adjusts defined work with guidance
Adjusts well-defined own work when requirements or conditions change, seeking guidance on unfamiliar trade-offs.
Observable behaviors
- Confirms what changed and which parts of the task are affected.
- Updates the immediate plan using the agreed priority.
- Signals consequences that cannot be resolved within the assignment.
Examples
- Reorders assigned tasks after confirming a priority change with the owner.
- Updates a draft when new requirements invalidate an earlier assumption.
IC2
Adapts ambiguous work independently
Independently revises an ambiguous plan as evidence or constraints change, balancing continuity with the cost of changing course.
Observable behaviors
- Reassesses assumptions when relevant new evidence appears.
- Compares the cost and risk of continuing, pausing, or changing direction.
- Communicates the revised plan and implications to affected partners.
Examples
- Changes the delivery sequence after a dependency becomes unavailable.
- Stops a low-value approach when early evidence contradicts its premise.
IC3
Enables adaptation across teams
Guides complex adaptation across teams, preserving decision clarity and reducing disruption when conditions remain uncertain.
Observable behaviors
- Creates decision points and fallback paths for uncertain work.
- Aligns teams on what remains fixed and what may change.
- Improves a system that repeatedly makes necessary change slow or costly.
Examples
- Defines staged commitments for a program facing unresolved external constraints.
- Redesigns a planning practice after repeated late priority changes.