Understanding adaptability and how it can help frame municipal policy issues

Workplaces are facing continuous change, and the ability to adapt will be paramount to both an individual’s, and an organization’s, ability to thrive.[1] Consequently, adaptability is becoming recognized as a vital skill for people and teams in the workplace to explore and navigate complex policy issues.

Let’s consider the issue of affordable housing faced by municipalities. More than ever, municipalities are recognizing the need to address affordable housing in their communities. According to the Government of Alberta Affordable Housing Review Panel, access to affordable housing has become a significant policy issue. As of April 2021, more than 110,000 Albertans live in affordable housing and 24,000 were on waitlists.[2]

There is an opportunity to adapt municipal approaches to policy issues, like affordable housing, by considering what they can unlearn about a policy issue and how mental flexibility can support this exercise. Mental flexibility and unlearning are key adaptability skills organization can use to support adapting to the ever-changing circumstances of policy issues. These skills can be strengthened and in doing so, open up new opportunities for innovative approaches.  

Unlearn

Unlearning can be described as “…the ability to be able to ‘let go of’ and rethink the status quo, reassess skills, or adjust old methodologies that are no longer relevant. It represents the balance between learning new things and disregarding old data. It encompasses an open mindedness to try new ways of doing things even if they outmode previous ideas or knowledge.”[3]

Leveraging unlearning, municipalities can explore how receptive they are to reassess or adjust their approach to policy issues, like affordable housing. This can include unpacking what their organization could unlearn about their role on this issue. For example, could municipalities unlearn what they view their role is when it comes to supporting affordable housing and, discover new opportunities that go beyond providing regulatory or financial tools? This is particularly important, for example, when some planning approval processes can create costing and timing barriers to affordable housing projects.[4] Or, can they unlearn what affordability looks like in their community, and better assess the unique challenges for their municipality? This can include identifying a range of models and approaches to address local and diverse needs. [5]

Municipalities with higher unlearning skills may discover they are more likely to identify innovative and sustainable solutions that recognize new ways to approach affordable housing. Those with lower unlearning skills, may explore how they can enhance their organizational unlearning skills to better respond to this policy issue.

Mental Flexibility

Unlearning is correlated to the subdimension of mental flexibility, which is described as “…the ability to accept, appreciate, and embrace competing demands or problems. It allows one to see tensions or trade-offs in everyday or business life as opportunities that allow innovative ways to learn and ultimately adapt.” [6] 

A municipality with a high unlearn skill will likely have a high mental flexibility score. In the affordable housing context, this could relate to implementing approaches that meet the needs of the community, while navigating divergent views from residents, organizations and/or the municipality. These municipalities may be able to consider multiple inputs, even if they appear to be in opposition and, more readily navigate a path forward. Municipalities with a lower mental flexibility skill may find that these competing perspectives create tension in the community and the organization. If this is the case, these municipalities may find value in building their mental flexibility capacity to identify approaches to affordable housing that foster convergence.

Conclusion

The example of affordable housing is one example in which an adaptability lens can help to frame a municipal policy issue. By understanding adaptability and how it can support municipal policy issues, municipalities can be better equipped to recognize, respond and adapt to change. If you are interested in learning more about adaptability and how it can support policy work, please contact:

Dana Garner Senior Consultant at Emerge Solutions, Inc.
dana@emergesolutions.ca
emergesolutions.ca

 AQai, is an organization focused on unlocking adaptability[7] and has developed the Adaptability Quotient (AQ) Assessment to measure workplace adaptability. AQ is measured across three key core dimensions – ability, character and environment, with each dimension comprised of five subdimensions.

[1] Uhl-Bien, May and Arena Michael. “Leadership for Organizational Adaptability: A theoretical synthesis and integrative framework.” The Leadership Quarterly 29 (2018) 89-104.

[2] Government of Alberta. Affordable Housing Review Panel. October 5, 2020 https://www.alberta.ca/stronger-foundations-affordable-housing-strategy.aspx

[3] AQai. March 3 2021. 5 Adaptability Skills You need to Thrive in the 2020’s. https://www.aqai.io/single-aq-articles/5-adaptability-skills-you-need-to-thrive-in-the-2020s

[4] Government of Alberta. Final Report of the Alberta Affordable Housing Review Panel. October 5, 2020. p26.  https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/26b06d34-4b03-488d-bed8-da5316b8b95c/resource/0fd7ae4e-568b-43d5-8480-c8d765b1e514/download/sh-final-report-of-alberta-affordable-housing-review-panel-2020-10-05.pdf

[5] Government of Alberta. Final Report of the Alberta Affordable Housing Review Panel. October 5, 2020. P4.  https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/26b06d34-4b03-488d-bed8-da5316b8b95c/resource/0fd7ae4e-568b-43d5-8480-c8d765b1e514/download/sh-final-report-of-alberta-affordable-housing-review-panel-2020-10-05.pdf

[6] AQai. March 3 2021. 5 Adaptability Skills You need to Thrive in the 2020’s. https://www.aqai.io/single-aq-articles/5-adaptability-skills-you-need-to-thrive-in-the-2020s

[7] AQai. 2020. Massive Transformation Purpose.  https://www.aqai.io/company/our-purpose