5Agility
Despite the many clichés surrounding Darwin’s work, it is not the strongest who survive, but rather the most adaptable.
Layne Beachley is an eight-time world champion surfer. It would be fair to call Layne a living legend.
When we sat down to talk with Layne, she outlined her belief in the importance of adaptability and agility in high performance. She shared with us the story of getting to number two in the world and then having to relearn one of the most basic skills in surfing: how to stand up on her board!
The way I was doing it enabled me to reach number two but it wasn’t going to get me to number one, and I wanted to be number one! It meant I had to relearn something I had been doing since I started surfing as a 4 year old. To achieve that, I had to practice jumping to my feet prior to every surf and every competitive heat for a whole year!
Extreme? Perhaps, but that willingness to relearn and create something new is a creative agility skill that many high achievers and great leaders have in common.
Becoming great, becoming a world champion, is not just about how good we are, but also how willing we are to adapt, learn something new and even start over again.
What can get in the way of this agility and adaptability, as explained in chapter 1, is that we are pretty much wired to resist change.
That being said, versatility and a willingness to be flexible in our approach has always been critical in setting human beings up for success. Our ability to adapt to ...
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