How Flexible is Your Behaviour?

One of the principles of success is to have behavioural flexibility. It's been said that the person with the most behavioural flexibility will control the situation.

What on earth is behavioural flexibility I hear you ask? The meaning I give it  is the ability to adapt behaviourally  to any given situation, to choose one's response and to manage one's state in a way that we remain at cause. Wowsers, that's a big one!

The simplified definition is being the best you can be in any given situation, realising that we all create our own reality and adapting accordingly to each situation to get the best outcome for all involved.

Take for example the fact that in my current job we lost our computers Friday lunchtime. They're still not back. The ETA for having them fixed is a week away. Pretty tough gig for a travel agent. How do you book holidays when everything these days is done on the computer? Well, you can't really. But you can find someone else who can help you do it!

We live in an age where we have more resources at our fingertips than we care to use. It's about  those resources, calling in favours, thinking outside of the box and even getting rid of the box. It's about working out which doors will open when it seems that no others will. It's about managing your emotions and your state and remembering there is a solution and just because it's not jumping out immediately, that there is a way. There is always a way.

It's about remembering that it's not just about you. It's about taking into consideration the other person and how they can be affected.  It's about considering the options from all different angles. Realising that there is more than one way of reaching your outcome. That the one way you always rely on may not always be there. Having alternatives is a good thing. It gives you choice. It gives your flexibility. It gives you nimbleness.

At the end of the day, it's not about you. It's not about your ego or how you feel. It's about being flexible enough to get a great outcome for all involved.