"When we can no longer change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves."
Viktor E. Frankl
Modern life unfolds against a backdrop of continuous, multifaceted, and profound crises. Pandemics, geopolitical tensions, climate-change, and technological-advancements have made it clear that change is no longer an exception-it-is the primary reality of our daily lives.
In this reality, it is increasingly difficult for people to maintain a sense of stability. The rapid pace of change often leads to confusion, anxiety, burnout, and a disruption of general equilibrium, expressed through various mental and physical symptoms. Consequently, a new psychological need has emerged: to remain functional amidst crisis, to be able to adapt to change, and to develop. This ability is called the Adaptability Quotient (AQ)
AQ - Mental-Flexibility and Strategic-Self-Management
The concept of Adaptability Quotient (AQ) was first introduced in 1997 by American psychologist Paul Stoltz. According to his view, AQ is an individual's ability to continue developing and remain active during challenges, even when development is unpredictable or overwhelming.
AQ is a type of inner resilience-compass, a blend of IQ (Intelligence Quotient) and EQ (Emotional Quotient), which helps a person work in stressful conditions, demonstrate endurance, and find solutions in a new reality.
AQ as an indicator of life potential
Adaptability-Quotient isn't only about professional-success. It shapes personal-relationships, leadership-style, quality-of-education, and the level-of-life-satisfaction.
People with a high AQ typically stand-out for:
- goal-oriented and self-regulation ability;
- ability to make value-based decisions;
- ability to perceive mistakes and failures as temporary occurrences;
- a development-oriented mindset;
Organizations already widely use AQ as one of the main indicators for recruitment and leadership-development.
AQ's Four Pillars (Stoltz's Model)
According to Stoltz's model, adaptability-quotient has four main components that determine an individual's perception of difficulty and mechanisms for responding to challenges.
- Control:
This component relates to the feeling of how much I can influence a situation, my own attitudes, and reactions. A person who sees that they can manage their own emotions and behaviors is more resilient to stress. - Ownership:
Do I take responsibility for what happens in my life, be it my reactions, decisions, or actions? A person who places responsibility on others often loses motivation, feels confused and lost. Conversely, someone who takes ownership of reality is better able to mobilize energy and cope with challenges. - Reach:
How do I perceive difficulty? Does the difficulty only relate to a specific situation, or do I extend it to my entire life? People with a high AQ do not extend specific unsuccessful events or failures to other aspects of their lives and do not consider them a failure of their entire personality. - Endurance:
Do I have the ability to see that difficulty is temporary and worth the effort? This component is connected to optimism, focus on vision, and patience.
AQ in Action: An Emotional-Compass for Better Navigation
In a crisis period, AQ functions as a psychological-navigator. It doesn't protect us from difficulty, but it helps us find our authentic paths to overcome it. People who think adaptively don't try to ignore changes or gain control over them; instead, they prefer flexibility, self-observation, and responsibility.
Recognizing and accepting the new reality, working on oneself, and finding new ways to function in changed circumstances - this is not simply resilience; it is a transformative ability to create new forms and different significance.
AQ as a Skill of the Future
Today, when the future is often hazy and uncertain, AQ offers a different perspective: a person who creatively adapts to the environment is not a victim of the situation, but an architect of their own development.
The inner stability of an individual with a high AQ is based on values, responsibility, and deep self-contact, through which they become resilient during changes and courageous in continuing on an obscured path.
