Welcome back to another deep dive episode of Geeks, Geezers and Googlization. I'm once again thrilled to turn over the mic to my special co host. Let's give a big warm welcome to Eli and Casey. You know, you sent us over a really interesting piece this week from Ira s Wolf, the future of work global thought leader, which is quite a title. It certainly is. Sets a high bar. Right. And the the core idea
he puts forward, it really grabbed my attention. He's arguing that the biggest danger facing businesses isn't, you know, some external threat out there. Not the usual suspects then, like tech disruption or a new competitor? No. Not primarily. He says it's more of an internal blind spot, this, delusion almost that they've already adapted enough to everything that's changing. Okay. So the threat is internal perception. That's compelling. We're often so focused
outwards, aren't we? Looking for the next big wave. Exactly. And Wolf's pointing the finger right back inside saying the real weakness is how we see see our own adaptability. And he's actually coined a term for adaptive perception disorder, APD. APD. Okay. Yeah. It's basically this gap. The gap between how much change is really happening out there and how much an organization thinks it's keeping up. They underestimate the change and overestimate their own response. So it's a mismatch.
A dangerous one, presumably. Totally. It's like a self imposed limit on growth, on survival even. And what's really tricky, I imagine, is that this APD could look like, well, like business as usual, maybe even like strength. That's the really counterintuitive part he highlights. Things that look like stability or resilience maybe might actually be masking this disorder. It's hiding in plain sight. Almost paradoxical. Right. And he uses this
quote from, doctor Ava Shiffman to really drive it home. She says, APD is like being in the eye of a hurricane and calling it a light breeze. Wow. That paints a picture a massive disconnect from reality. Doesn't it? Just sticks with you, that level of, well, potentially dangerous underestimation. It really does. It speaks volumes about complacency. Yeah. So okay. If APD is the subtle internal thing, what are the signs? What are the, you know, symptoms Wolf points
out that we might actually recognize day to day? Well, he lists a few things that felt, pretty familiar. One that jumped out at me was outdated strategy decks. Ah, yes. The PowerPoint graveyard. Exactly. Specifically, ones that haven't really changed much since, say, before the pandemic, like Yeah. 2019 thinking driving 2025 decisions. That's a big one given everything that's happened. Digital acceleration, work changes, consumer shifts, using a pre 2020
map now seems Risky. Right? Yeah. It suggests those massive shifts just haven't fully sunk in at a strategic level. Makes you really question the shelf life of strategy these days. It needs to be much more dynamic. Absolutely. And then there's this other one that, kinda made me raise an eyebrow. He talks about leaders maybe in 2025 still congratulating themselves on handling 2020. Like dwelling on past glories. Yeah. It's celebrating that past when, well, maybe,
just maybe, ignoring the brand new challenges right in front of them. It's looking backward when you need to be looking forward. That's a good point. Does that past success even guarantee future agility? Weathering one storm doesn't mean you're ready for the next totally different one. Are they building capacity now? Right. Are they resting on laurels? And then there are those, you know, company wide meetings or town halls. Lots talk like, we're on track.
Uh-huh. Vague positivity. Super vague. But if you press for details, like, what is the track? How are we measuring it against, you know, today's reality? Yeah. Often, there's no clear answer. It's just confidence without substance. That lack of clear metrics, clear definitions, that's telling. It suggests either they don't really grasp the changes needed or maybe they just don't wanna face the hard specifics. Easier to say north without a
compass. And Wolf just nails it, I think. Mhmm. He says these are signs of strength. It's change blindness dressed up as confidence. Oh, I like that phrasing. Change blindness dressed up as confidence. It implies the organization is so convinced it's okay, it literally can't see the warning sign. Pretty much. So, okay, those are the general symptoms. But he also breaks APD down further into these, telltale subtypes, more specific ways it shows up. Okay. Interesting. What are those? He's
got four. The first is perceptual change deficiency, PCD. This is the don't worry. It's just temporary mindset. The this too shall pass approach even when it's clearly not passing. Exactly. His analogy is brilliant. Facing a tidal wave with just an umbrella. You feel like you're doing something, but you fundamentally misjudged the scale of the threat. That really hits the denial aspect, doesn't it? Refusing to see that the change might be permanent. What drives that, I wonder? Wishful thinking,
lack of data. Could be all of those. Then there's change blindness syndrome, CBS. This is where the signs have been obvious. Ages. Wolf says, like, three years loudly and with neon signs. Okay. So really unmissable signs. You'd think. But the reaction is still, woah, where did that come from? Like, they genuinely didn't see it. They're so stuck in their ways. They're blind to the new reality right there. CBS, that points to a failure in environmental scanning, maybe.
We're just not connecting the dots internally. Why miss the neon signs? Information overload perhaps or just nobody listening? Good question. The third one is adaptive overconfidence disorder, AOD. This is the classic, oh, we're great at change, always have been. The legacy argument, we handled y two k. We can handle anything. Exactly. But Wolf pushes back hard. Really? When was the last big adaptation? 02/2008. That
one software upgrade. He points out it's often based on isolated, maybe outdated examples, not proof of current capability. Yeah. AOD sounds dangerous because it creates this false security blanket. Past success in a different world doesn't mean you're fit for today's race, like a marathoner thinking they're ready for a sprint, as you said. Nicely put. And the final subtype, strategic narcissism, s n. Strategic narcissism. Sounds serious. It is. This is the belief that, the market
will come back to us eventually. They're so convinced of their own inherent brilliance, their product's superiority. But they refuse to see the market has just moved on, found something faster, cheaper, better. Precisely. It's this internal arrogance, this belief that history guarantees future relevance. Even when everything's changed, you see it with established players sometimes, dismissing the new kids on the block. Right. Until it's too late. Okay. So PCD, CBS, AOD, SN,
different flavors of the same basic problem. But what are the actual, like, tangible consequences? Why should a business leader or even an employee really care about spotting this APD? What's the real cost? Well, Wolf spells out some pretty stark outcomes. He says companies with APD end up building their whole systems, their processes, everything on assumptions that are just obsolete. So building on shaky ground. Totally. Think about pouring money into tech that's about to be irrelevant
or training people for jobs that won't exist soon. It's a huge misdirection of effort and money. Wasted resources, investing in horse drawn carriages when cars are taking over as you mentioned earlier. Exactly that. And he also talks about how these organizations tend to stick to their comfort zones, familiar processes, familiar tech, even if it's actually holding them back. That resistance to leaving the familiar, it strangles innovation, doesn't it?
Prevents them from building the new muscles they need. They get stuck in an echo chamber, reinforcing the old ways. Yeah. And the image he uses to capture the end result is chilling. He quotes the doctor Eli Burnham. Organizations with APD don't burn out. They rot quietly. Rot quietly. That's powerful. Not a big explosion, but a slow internal decay. Right. An insidious decline that might not be obvious until it's very, very advanced. It really highlights those unseen long term
costs of just failing to keep up. Incredibly impactful. Okay. So the picture of the problem is clear. The symptoms, the types, the grim potential costs. What's the solution then? What's Wolf's antidote to this adaptive perception disorder? He calls it radical AQ, adaptability intelligence. AQ, like IQ or EQ, but for adaptability. Exactly. It's not just reacting to change. It's proactively building the ability to adapt, making it a
core competency, almost like a muscle you have to constantly exercise. Makes sense. So how do you build that muscle? What are the key parts of building or maybe rebuilding this AQ? He lays out a few critical things. First, you have to actively challenge your existing knowledge. To question everything. Pretty much. It requires, intellectual humility. Being willing to say, maybe what we know isn't true anymore. Being open to new data, even if it's uncomfortable or contradicts current
beliefs. That sounds like a major cultural shift for many places. Admitting you might not have all the answers, that the old ways aren't sacred. It really is. It demands continuous learning, a healthy dose of skepticism about the status quo. Second, he says, push beyond the comfort zone. Get uncomfortable. Liberally. Seek out new experiences, try new approaches, experiment, embrace a bit of calculated risk to actually build those adaptive skills. So not just
talking about agility, but actually doing things that require it. Learning by doing, essentially. Exactly. And third, and this feels crucial, actively seek out and listen to uncomfortable truths. Oh, the stuff people might be hesitant to say. Yeah. Foster a culture where it's okay to disagree, where critical feedback is actually welcomed, not punished, where leaders genuinely wanna hear perspectives that challenge their own views. Creating psychological safety,
basically, so people can point out the blind spots without fear. Absolutely. And ultimately, Wolf says, building AQ boils down to constantly asking that really tough question. What if we're not as ready as we think we are? Constant self assessment. Relentless improvement. Yes. A fundamental commitment to evolving, not stagnating. Okay. So wrapping it all up then, the big takeaway from Ira Wolf's Wolf's piece isn't about some monster under the bed, some external disruptor.
No. The biggest threat, he argues, is internal. It's that, that fantasy, the fantasy that we've already adapted enough. That's such a vital point. It shifts the focus dramatically. It's about self awareness, about looking inward first. Well, it really makes you think, doesn't it, about your own company or places you observe. Are they truly evolving? Are they meeting the pace of change? Or are they just confidently narrating their own decline
completely unaware? Yeah. Are they mistaking routine for readiness? That's the critical question Wolf leaves us with. Because as he says, in this age of nonstop change, the real risk isn't just disruption itself. It's the delusion that you're immune, that you're already prepared. Exactly. And, you know, if this whole deep dive into APD has struck a chord, if listeners are thinking, maybe this applies here. Wolf actually mentions a tool in his article, their AQ team audit. So a way to
potentially measure this to get beyond just gut feeling? Seems like it. A way for organizations to try and objectively assess their actual adaptability intelligence, their AQ level. Interesting. A call to action then. Move from assumption to assessment. Yeah. So we really just encourage everyone listening to mull over these ideas. Think about your own experiences, what you see around you. Do these symptoms, these subtypes, and APD resonate at all? It's definitely, definitely food for thought.
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