Hiring for adaptability has become one of the biggest things I think about when building teams, because the job someone accepts today probably won’t look exactly the same a year or two from now. Priorities shift. Companies grow. Technology changes. Customers change what they want. And sometimes the plan you were confident about on Monday looks completely different by Friday.
That’s business.
I’ve learned that having the right experience matters, but experience alone doesn’t tell you how somebody will respond when the playbook changes. And these days, I’m paying a lot more attention to that.
The resume tells you where they’ve been, not how they’ll react
We spend a lot of time looking backward when we hire.
Where did you work?
How long were you there?
What was your title?
What did you accomplish?
Those are important questions. I ask them too.
But eventually I want to know something else… what happens when things don’t go according to plan?
I’ve talked with candidates who checked nearly every box on a job description, but when we started discussing situations where expectations changed or they had to learn something completely new, the conversation got harder.
Then I’ve met people whose resumes weren’t an exact match, but they could tell me story after story about figuring things out.
They joined a company and inherited a broken process. Their manager left unexpectedly. A customer changed the scope halfway through a project. The company introduced new software nobody knew how to use.
And they adjusted.
Those stories get my attention.
Because most businesses aren’t operating in perfectly controlled environments. Especially growing companies. There are going to be moments where someone has to say, “Okay, this isn’t what we expected… what do we do now?”
I want people who can operate in that moment.
Adaptability isn’t the same as saying “I’m flexible”
Almost everyone will tell you they’re adaptable in an interview.
It’s one of those words we’ve heard so many times that it can start to mean almost nothing.
“I’m flexible.”
“I work well in changing environments.”
“I’m comfortable wearing multiple hats.”
Okay. Show me.
I think behavioral questions become really useful here because you stop asking someone what they would do and start asking what they did do.
Tell me about a time your priorities changed halfway through a project.
What happened when leadership made a decision you didn’t agree with?
When was the last time you had to learn something quickly because your job required it?
Tell me about something you tried that didn’t work.
That last question can tell you a lot.
I remember one conversation where someone openly admitted that their original solution to a problem failed. No polished answer. No attempt to pretend it was secretly a success.
They basically said, “Yeah, we got that one wrong.”
Then they explained what they changed.
I still remember that conversation because it felt real. More importantly, it showed me they weren’t so attached to being right that they couldn’t adjust.
That matters on a team.
A lot.
Look for the little signs
Adaptability doesn’t always show up as some huge career-changing story.
Sometimes it’s in the smaller details.
When I’m talking with somebody, I listen for things like:
- Learning Curiosity: Do they naturally want to understand how things work?
- Problem Solving: Can they move forward when the answer isn’t obvious?
- Self-Awareness: Can they admit when an approach isn’t working?
- Communication: Do they keep people informed when priorities change?
- Comfort With Feedback: Can they adjust without treating feedback like criticism?
None of those necessarily show up in a job title.
You have to talk to people.
And, honestly, sometimes you have to get away from your prepared interview questions for a few minutes.
Ask follow-ups.
Get curious.
If somebody tells you they helped their company through a major change, don’t immediately move to the next question because you have eight more on your interview sheet.
Stay there.
“What changed?”
“What was difficult about it?”
“What did you personally have to do differently?”
“What would you do differently now?”
That’s usually where you start learning how somebody actually thinks.
Building an adaptable team doesn’t stop with hiring
Here’s the part employers have to own.
You can’t say you want adaptable employees and then create an environment where people are punished every time they try something new.
It doesn’t work.
If you want people to adjust, learn, and solve problems, they need some room to do those things.
That means leaders have to communicate when priorities change. We have to explain the “why” when we can. We have to give people feedback and, occasionally, let them get something wrong without making it feel like the end of the world.
I’ve seen teams where every change from leadership creates immediate frustration because nobody understands where it came from.
And sometimes that’s on leadership.
Maybe the decision was right, but we communicated it badly.
I’ve been there.
It made me rethink the idea that adaptable employees simply “go with the flow.” I don’t think that’s really what we’re looking for.
Good adaptable employees ask questions.
They challenge things sometimes.
They want context.
Then, once they understand the direction, they figure out how to move forward.
There’s a big difference between adaptability and blindly agreeing with everything.
Actually, I’d argue that the strongest teams need people who can do both things… question an approach thoughtfully and still adjust when a decision has been made.
Because change isn’t slowing down.
New technology will keep showing up. Markets will shift. Companies will restructure. Strategies will change. Roles will evolve.
Some of the skills we’re hiring for right now may look completely different five years from now.
But someone’s ability to learn?
To listen?
To adjust?
To solve a problem they’ve never seen before?
Those things travel pretty well.
Conclusion
I still care about experience, accomplishments, and whether someone can actually do the job we’re hiring them to do. But I’m also looking beyond today’s responsibilities. I want to know how someone responds when tomorrow looks different than expected. Because when we’re building teams for the long haul, hiring people who can grow through change may be just as important as hiring people who are ready for the job sitting in front of them today.
