Move With the Ball: Why Adaptability Beats Control at Work

Many of us were trained for a world where success meant stability: clear career ladders, predictable roles, fixed expectations, and a sense that if you work hard enough, you can “lock in” certainty. But today’s reality AI acceleration, reorganizations, new tools, shifting markets—rewards a different capability: adaptive performance. In other words, not being unshaken by change, but being able to function well inside it (Pulakos et al., 2000).

This article isn’t a motivational “embrace change” speech. It’s a practical way to think about how to stop fighting the moving ball and start moving with it.

Control is comforting. Adaptation is effective.

When uncertainty rises, the human brain naturally seeks control. That’s not weakness—it’s a normal stress response. But trying to force stability in an unstable environment often creates a second problem: frustration, fatigue, and decision paralysis (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984).

Organizations do this, too. They respond to ambiguity with more processes, more sign-offs, more reporting. Sometimes that’s necessary. Often, it slows learning.

A more productive approach is what organizational scholars describe as sensemaking: acting, observing what happens, updating your interpretation, and acting again (Weick, 1995). It’s not “winging it.” It’sa disciplined adaptation.

The goal isn’t to eliminate the wobble. The goal is to stay functional while it wobbles.

Practical tips: How to “move with the ball” without losing your professionalism

1) Replace “certainty” with short learning cycles

When you can’t predict the future, the best strategy is to shorten the time between action and feedback. That’s the core of sensemaking—small moves, rapid learning (Weick, 1995).

Try this:

• Define your next step as an experiment: “I’m testing X for two weeks.”

• Decide in advance what “success signals” look like (e.g., response rates, cycle time, quality, stakeholder clarity).

• Do a short review: What did I learn? What do I change next?

  
  

This is how adaptive performers stay calm: they don’t need certainty—they need traction (Pulakos et al., 2000).

2) Build your “portable value,” not your perfect job title

In unstable environments, titles change faster than capabilities. A strong career strategy is to invest in skills that transfer across teams, tools, and industries—your employability capital (Fugate, Kinicki, & Ashforth, 2004).

Portable value examples:

• Stakeholder alignment in ambiguity

• writing clearly (docs, narratives, decision memos)

• problem framing (turning chaos into a solvable question)

• cross-functional communication

• learning new tools quickly without collapsing your workflow

If your value only exists in one structure, one manager, or one system—it’s fragile. If your value travels, your career becomes resilient.

3) Don’t “be flexible.” Build psychological safety around learning

People adapt faster when it’s safe to ask questions, test ideas, and admit uncertainty. That’s not softness—it’s performance infrastructure. Psychological safety predicts learning behaviors, speaking up, and error reporting (Edmondson, 1999).

Try this with your team (or manager):

• Normalize “I don’t know yet” as a valid status.

• Use language like: “Here’s what I know / here’s what I’m assuming / here’s what I need.”

• In post-mortems, focus on system learning rather than blame.

  
  

Adaptation requires honesty. Honesty requires safety.

4) Shift from “I failed” to “I iterate.d”

A growth mindset doesn’t mean pretending everything is positive. It means interpreting setbacks as information rather than as identity (Dweck, 2006).

A useful reframe:

• Instead of: “This didn’t work—maybe I’m not good at this.”

• Try: “This version didn’t work—what variable do I change next?”

When you treat your actions as iterations, you protect your confidence and accelerate your learning curve.

5) Communicate like an adaptor: fewer promises, clearer updates

In unstable contexts, people don’t need grand certainty. They need reliable clarity. The most trusted professionals aren’t the ones who predict perfectly—they’re the ones who update early and clearly.

Use this simple template:

• Status: where we are

• Change: what shifted and why

• Impact: what it affects

• Next: what I’m doing and by when

• Ask: what I need from you (if anything)

  
  

This aligns expectations, reduces stress, and makes you look senior—especially when others go quiet under pressure.

What does this mean for job search and career growth

Job searching is one of the most unstable “balls” there is: silence after interviews, shifting requirements, recruiters disappearing, and roles freezing. People often respond by trying to regain control through over-optimization—endless edits, endless courses, endless second-guessing.

A more adaptive approach:

• run short experiments (two CV versions, two messaging angles)

• track signals (reply rate, interview conversion)

• iterate fast, not emotionally

That’s how you stay confident in a process that doesn’t always fairly reward effort.

How can I help (my service)

If you’re feeling that your career is “moving under your feet,” I offer structured, practical support that turns uncertainty into a clear plan. Depending on what you need, I can help you:

• Clarify your positioning (what you’re actually selling in the market)

• Build a narrative that travels across roles and industries (LinkedIn + CV + interview story)

• Improve interview performance with real practice, frameworks, and feedback

• Develop an adaptability plan: short learning cycles, decision-making under ambiguity, and communication strategies that make you look sharp even in unstable environments

  
  

My style is direct but not aggressive: clear steps, measurable progress, and language that feels authentic to you—not “generic career advice.”

References

Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.

Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383.

Fugate, M., Kinicki, A. J., & Ashforth, B. E. (2004). Employability: A psycho-social construct, its dimensions, and applications. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 65(1), 14–38.

Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. Springer.

Pulakos, E. D., Arad, S., Donovan, M. A., & Plamondon, K. E. (2000). Adaptability in the workplace: Development of a taxonomy of adaptive performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(4), 612–624.

Weick, K. E. (1995). Sensemaking in organizations. Sage.