Out of the countless things I have learned as a parent in the last four years, what's resonating right now is that one thing can have many purposes. My daughters find new and different ways to play with ordinary objects and toys that seem to me to have one specific application and as I watch them play, I'm constantly amazed at their ingenuity. Today, for example, they decided that a toy drill and a fairy wand, when attached together with a headband, made an excellent oar for some pretend sailing in their "swimming pool" (the couch). And in a pinch, I have figured out how to make a diaper out of a towel and some binder clips, and secure a wriggling toddler in a restaurant seat with a scarf.

(Sidebar: If you have young children, let me also suggest a couple of "kidhacks" I've come up with in my need to be creative - a half-sheet baking pan is not only good for chocolate chip cookies, but keeps a heck of a lot of play-dough and paint off the kitchen table during those rainy-day craft activities. And the one that I just discovered, after 4 years of frustration - when you lose the straw inserts out of your sippy cups, cutting up a bunch of disposable plastic straws and keeping them in the silverware drawer is an ideal way to avoid going on Amazon every week to buy replacement straws from whatever brand is the preferred sippy cup of the month in your house (excuse me for a second while I answer the door. It's the UPS driver).)

But what do all of these things really have to do with my post (besides maybe helping out a fellow parent with a couple of helpful tips)?

They remind me of the power and importance of adaptability. When kids figure out that a toy can have multiple purposes for play, they're fueling their imaginations and satisfying their curiosity, which sets them up for a great future. But when we do it as adults? Well, that's just powerful beyond measure. Being adaptable means being open to change. It means pivoting in an alternate direction, quickly and efficiently, to learn or do something new or different. It means being willing to take a risk. It means that when something unexpected, uncomfortable or just plain un-likeable happens to us, we brush it off, find the good in the situation and move on to deal with it.

Adaptability (or if you want, call it grit, determination, flexibility, etc) is such a key competency for a successful career. Read an article, blog post or interview with or about Richard Branson, Indra Nooyi, or any number of other successful leaders and they will inevitably mention adaptability in some form or fashion as a critical leadership skill. Certainly there's a Darwinian element to all this - adapt or die - but it's also about knowing that when you are able to adapt, you can innovate, change and improve that much more easily and successfully. Here's another reason - "91% of HR directors think that by 2018, people will be recruited on their ability to deal with change and uncertainty". That's pretty compelling.

So how do we practice and improve our adaptability, so that we become more flexible, open and innovative (and perhaps more promotable, employable or someone that investors find more worthy of supporting)? Here are 3 things you can do right now (or at least, this week) to get better at this critical skill:

The next time you start a repetitive task, one that you do without thinking (order your lunch, facilitate a meeting, peel an orange) - do it differently. Actively and consciously stop before you start and try completing that task differently than you normally do. For lunch - order something different or try a new spot (bonus points if it's a cuisine you think you don't like!). For the meeting - instead of reviewing the agenda first, ask everyone to go around and state their desired goal for the meeting. And for the orange? Cut it in half and suck out the juice instead of carefully peeling it section by section. You might find you like your new approach!
If you come across something you don't know or don't understand, instead of seeking the easy answer (oh Google, I do love you), do some deeper research to truly learn something new. When we really take the time to significantly increase our knowledge, we gain new perspective and understanding about how something works or why it does what it does. That creates openness and flexibility to looking at something in a different way, and while it might take a little more time, the insights you achieve can be fascinating AND useful.
Be open to making mistakes. When you feel like you might fail at something, let yourself go and don't automatically pull back to a safe position. At the gym, in the kitchen, at work (when you know a mistake won't impact your job) - push yourself into a zone that isn't 100% comfortable and where you're unsure of what might happen. Allowing the risk of failure (or actual failure itself) to become part of your experience creates an expanse of insight and lets you test your muscles (physical, mental or emotional) to understand your own capabilities. BTW - this is why a key performance competency in many organizations is the ability to attempt and achieve "stretch goals".

Most of us go into any new situation with a set of expectations or beliefs about what is going to happen. From there, we build "rules" about what must occur and when it doesn't go the way we think it should, we get stressed, uncomfortable and sometimes downright "stuck". Being able to continually grow, improve and gain more of what you want from life comes from a willingness to try new things, take risks and pivot easily to face change. With these three simple ways to break your own "rules", you might find that your power to adapt becomes stronger quite quickly, and opens you up to all sorts of exciting new things in life and work!