It's Those Who Are Adaptable

During these times of economic upset, economic turmoil, there are great, massive changes in not just American society, but sweeping across the globe. I mean global warming, emissions, the rainforests-there's a lot going on.

I'm reminded of Charles Darwin, a frequently misunderstood man-frequently misunderstood. He taught about the Law of Evolution and the survival of the fittest... And, of course, a lot of people think that just means the strongest can run over the weaker, and that you let the weak babies die.

But Charles Darwin did not teach that. In fact, what he said was that survival of the fittest isn't about how the strongest survive, and it isn't about how the most intelligent survive. The ones that survive and thrive are the ones that are adaptable.

Hmmmm. Now, there's a lot of anger, a lot of grief, a lot of upset, a lot of blame-plenty to go around out there. You, as an achiever, wouldn't want to get into any of that. Take heed of what one of our foremost scientists, a man who studied this in nature, taught us.

If your old way of making a living isn't performing anymore, whether it's because of the product you were selling, or the industry is going down, their was a hostile takeover, or whatever-simply adapt, be flexible. It's not a big thing.

Hanging on... Well, listen, that's not a workable approach. Remember-those who are adaptable survive. Hanging on, being rigid, is not going to work. Now, I can tell you there are some universal principles involved, also, such as that you've got to deliver value, you want to go the extra mile...

But the big thing is, if you're getting the clear signals-and you are-that things are changing, start making your plans to change now.

Benefit from change. Thrive on it. You know, they may say that there's no money out there, and that's not true. And they may say that it's a softened economy, and that is.

And that being the case, you may say that, "I'm unemployed now, or my wife is," and all these are really clear signals that it's time to sit down, think this thing over again, and see how you can contribute in a way that other people would be willing to pay you for.

In fact, you might be doing like a lot of people are-changing your career.

I can tell you one thing for sure. In my own business, I am changing my emphasis from the consumer market to more into the business market. That's it, adapting, nothing more.

It's not "the strong shall survive"-it's those who are adaptable.