Adaptability Is the Only Skill That Matters

Welcome to episode 281 of the Business Development Podcast.

We're living in a time where the world is changing faster than ever before.

Technology that once took decades now evolves in months.

Artificial intelligence isn't on the horizon.

It's here, rewriting how we work, create and connect.

The information age is over.

We've entered the intelligence age.

And.

And the only skill that truly matters now is adaptability.

This era doesn't belong to the smartest or the most experienced.

It belongs to the ones willing to evolve, the ones that cause change, not react to it.

Because adaptability isn't about survival anymore.

It's about taking control of what comes next.

Stick with us, you're not gonna wanna miss this episode.

The great Mark Cuban once said, business happens over years.

Value is measured in the total upside of a business relationship, not by how much you squeezed out in any one deal.

And we couldn't agree more.

This is the Business Development Podcast, based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and broadcasting to the world.

You'll get expert business development advice, tips and experiences, and you'll hear interviews with business owners, CEOs and business development reps. You'll get actionable advice on how to grow business brought to you by Capital Business Development, capitalbd.

Ca.

Let's do it.

Welcome to the Business Development Podcast.

And now your expert host, Kelly Kennedy.

Hello.

Welcome to episode 281 of the Business Development Podcast.

My gosh, guys, 281 episodes closing in on 300 soon.

Cannot believe we've been at it this long some days, but it is an honor and a privilege to be here with you, to be able to do this for you guys week over week, month over month, and soon, year over year.

Going on our third year here of the Business Development Podcast in February.

So it's been quite the journey so far.

Wanted to start today's episode by thanking each and every one of you immensely who supported us during the Signal Awards.

I appreciate all of that support.

We did incredibly well, guys.

That's the truth.

We did incredibly well.

Pretty sure we came in somewhere around fourth for the People's Choice.

And, guys, we were the only Canadian show.

We were the only independent show.

Everyone else in there was part of a major network of one kind or another, and we still came in somewhere around fourth.

So I really can't complain there.

And I'm pretty sure.

And we'll know.

We'll know probably by the time you're hearing this episode whether or not we won a bronze, gold or silver award here in the 2025 Signal Awards.

So either way, guys, we did it.

Either way, we did it.

And it was because of you.

It was your help, it was your support, it was you showing up for us for our show.

And I appreciate you guys immensely.

For those of you who are looking for ways that you can potentially support this show, understand that you telling your friends, your family, your co workers about us, you guys clicking that follow link, wherever you guys listen, that is the way these days that all of these platforms are paying attention.

They want to know how many people are following the show and how many people are actually consuming that show.

So as long as you follow us and you listen and you tell a couple people, this show is going to continue growing and I cannot do it without you.

I need your support.

So please do tell your friends, your family, your coworkers, and let us keep this trajectory going for the business Development podcast.

I hope to be able to continue to do this for years and years and years to come.

Okay, today I wanted to talk all about the one skill that truly matters in this brave new world, and that is the power of adaptability.

The only thing constant in business and life is change.

I think that many of us, me included, have worked to keep things the same in one way or another at least once or twice.

We think we are doing the right thing, maybe even protecting a way of life that we value greatly at the time.

After all, change can feel hard, even if in practice it's usually easier than we thought it would be.

If I look back to my business development career, I resisted nearly every new way of doing things, especially when I was first introduced to things like CRM Systems back in 2013.

It was feeling a bit draconian.

Not necessarily a better way of doing things, but simply a way to get more out of us.

That's how it felt in the moment.

But guys, I was seeing it all wrong.

We had used Excel spreadsheets for years and I pushed back every chance I got.

It took many, many, many more years for me to change my view and become the obviously clear CRM advocate that I am today.

Guys, I pushed back every chance I got when my company implemented CRM systems way back in the day because we'd been doing it a certain way for a while and I didn't want to do it a different way.

I didn't have to learn something new.

Little did I know that in time, I would be one of the biggest advocates for CRMs.

But once upon a time, guys, I fought it tooth and nail.

The change was scary.

I could not see the value and at that point in my career too, I was trying to protect myself, not necessarily improve the business.

And what I didn't realize was I would have been improving myself as well.

The truth is, I should have embraced that technology as the helpful tool it was right then.

But instead.

Instead I was afraid.

That fear not only hurt me, but the company I worked for as well.

Because we were not able to implement an effective process that would have helped everybody involved.

And that is the harsh truth of resisting change.

Resisting change tends to hurt nearly everyone and everything involved.

I used to believe that new systems like CRMs were just the corporate ways to monitor and control people.

I fought it.

I resisted it.

I told myself that I was protecting my freedom, when really I was just protecting my fear.

Here's the truth.

When we resist change, we don't just slow down progress.

We actively damage the very growth we claim to want.

We hurt our teams.

We hurt our companies and our future selves.

What we see as control is often just clarity.

What we fear is surveillance is often just support.

See, I learned the hard way that resisting change doesn't protect progress, it prevents it.

And if you want proof, just look at a company you already know.

Apple.

Apple is the biggest disruptor of their own products.

They don't just adapt to change, they create it.

Even when it means destroying their own prior successes.

Apple understood that their greatest competitor wasn't Samsung, Nokia or Microsoft.

It was their own success.

The moment that they stopped innovating, somebody else would.

So instead of defending their old products, instead they made them obsolete.

They could have tried to protect the ipod forever.

After all, it was a multibillion dollar product line that changed the music industry forever.

But they didn't.

They killed it with the iPhone.

Because Apple understood that evolution requires sacrifice.

If they didn't do it, somebody else would.

See, adaptability is not about reacting to change.

It's causing it intentionally.

While it's still your choice to do so.

We talk about adaptability like it's something that happens to us, as if change shows up at our door and forces us to deal with it.

But at that point, it's no longer about adaptability, is it?

Now it's about survival.

True adaptability is powerful because it's chosen.

It's not about waiting to be forced into change.

It's about choosing to evolve while it's still your choice.

It's looking at what's working today and saying, how long until this holds me back?

It's deciding to move before comfort turns into confinement.

See, Apple did something pretty revolutionary when they released the iPhone in 2007.

They single handedly killed their most valuable product line, the ipod.

If that gamble would have failed, it would have been a significant financial setback for Apple and likely would have changed the company forever.

So why did they do it?

Apple understood something most people and companies never do.

Protecting what's working today is the fastest way to lose tomorrow.

They chose to evolve while it was still their decision to make.

They chose to evolve while they were still at the top.

Adaptability isn't about being forced to move.

It's about refusing to stand still.

It's about taking back your agency in a world that's changing faster than ever.

For years, adaptability has been about keeping up, staying relevant in the information age, learning new systems and keeping pace in evolving industries.

But we need to wake up and realize something uncomfortable.

The world of the information age is dead.

It served its time, but now it's over.

For decades, the winners were the ones who could gather data, store knowledge and access information faster than everyone else.

That was the game.

But that game is gone.

AI is tearing up the game board, destroying the old rules, and is generating a brand new game right in front of our eyes.

We have entered the intelligence age.

A world where machines don't just collect information, they can interpret it, predict it, and act on it faster than any human ever could.

I'm not saying throw away your systems and structure.

Far from it.

Process is what gives us consistency, clarity and accountability.

It's what keeps businesses moving forward even when the world is feeling chaotic.

But here's the thing.

Even the best systems cannot survive without evolution.

Processes are not meant to be cages.

They are meant to be frameworks we can grow through.

The danger isn't having a process, product or service that we love or depend on.

We all have great processes.

We all love our products and services.

That's not it.

The danger is falling in love with them so much that we stop questioning what comes next.

We stop trying to innovate, we stop trying to improve.

Adaptability doesn't replace process, it fuels it.

It's what turns a static system into a living one.

It's what keeps great businesses relevant, creative and moving forward, while the others get stuck defending how it's always been done.

I don't want you to fear change.

I want you to start looking for it.

Ask yourself, where am I comfortable right now?

Where have I stopped challenging the process?

Because growth does not come from waiting for disruption.

It comes from choosing to evolve before you have to remember change feels hard because you cannot yet see the Other side.

We've all been there, guys.

It's fear.

It's fear that keeps us from moving forward.

It's fear of what comes next.

When you're in the middle of change, it all feels uncertain.

We've all been there.

It can feel uncertain, uncomfortable, and even threatening.

Because you're standing in the fog, you cannot yet see what is waiting for you on the other side.

And guys, 99.999% of the time, the other side of change is better than where you are today.

Here's what I've learned, guys, through the business development podcast.

Through capital business development and nearly 20 years of sales and business development, the other side is nearly always better.

The other side of change is nearly always better.

Every single time I face change, whether it was technology, business, podcasting, or personal growth, what came next was always stronger, smarter and more aligned than what came before.

You just can't see it yet.

That's the problem.

We're terrified of change because we cannot see what's on the other side.

We're terrified to try that new service, try that new product, because who knows?

What if it doesn't work?

What if it's not as good as what we had before?

It holds us back.

We refuse to move forward because we're afraid and we just can't see it yet.

That's why so many people stay where they are.

Not because it's better, but because it is visible.

They're familiar with it.

And familiarity feels safe.

But remember, familiarity is not progress.

If instead, you can trust that the other side of change is better than where you are today, even if you can't see it, you can move forward without fear.

Once you understand that what comes next 99% of the time is better than where you are today, you can move forward without fear.

And that is how we begin to embrace adaptability.

Not as something that happens to us, but something we get to choose.

With courage, curiosity, and intention.

How do we prepare for what is coming?

Not with panic, but instead with purpose.

Number one, change.

The question that you ask yourself.

Stop asking, what if this replaces me?

And start asking, how can this empower me?

Every major shift in history looked like a threat before it became an advantage.

Curiosity kills fear.

The moment you start exploring, instead of defending, you regain control.

Two, audit your comfort zones.

Adaptability starts with awareness.

Ask yourself, where have I stopped growing?

What systems have I stopped questioning?

In the AI age, danger is not in failure.

It's in familiarity.

Identify one area of your business or workflow that is running on autopilot.

And experiment with improving or reimagining it.

3.

Experiment in small, intentional ways.

You don't have to rebuild your company overnight, just start testing.

Try using an AI tool to automate a piece of admin work, summarize client notes, or enhance creative output.

Build micro adaptations into your weekly routine, and over time, small experiments can lead to massive leaps.

Number four.

Keep your human edge.

In a world of AI and robots, be human.

I've been saying it since the beginning of this show, and I still have not changed my mind on that.

AI will handle tasks, but empathy, connection, trust and vision are still human superpowers.

Double down on the qualities that make you irreplaceable.

Learn to blend technology with emotional intelligence.

AI can make you faster, sharper, and better prepared.

Number 5.

Build adaptability into your systems.

Don't discard structure, evolve it.

Make your processes living systems, review them regularly, integrate new tools and celebrate experimentation in instead of perfection.

Systems are not meant to restrict evolution.

Use them to sustain it instead.

Number six.

Surround yourself with forward thinkers.

You adapt faster when you're not doing it alone.

Join communities, masterminds, or groups where people are experimenting and sharing openly.

Adaptability spreads through conversation and collaboration.

It is contagious.

7.

Reframe failure as feedback.

Adaptability requires momentum, not perfection.

Every failed experiment is a data point for your next success.

In the AI age, the faster you learn, the more you win.

Remember guys, the AI age isn't just coming, it's here.

And the people who thrive won't be the ones with the most information.

It'll be the ones who adapt the fastest.

So what do we do if we're afraid?

Because, let's be honest, it's okay to be.

Fear is normal.

It's human change challenges everything familiar.

And our instinct is to hold on to what we know.

But here's the truth.

We can't cling to what's comfortable and expect to grow.

Fear isn't a signal to stop.

It's a sign that something important is asking for your attention.

It's the space between you and who you are becoming.

And that's why, instead of fighting fear, we have to work with it.

We have to recognize it, understand it, and then start carving a new path forward, one step at a time.

Because if fear is the wall, action is the doorway.

And the moment you start walking through it, you realize it was never as tall as it looked.

So if you're afraid of change, that is completely okay.

But you don't have to stay there.

You just have to start building a new way through It.

And here's how.

Number one, we have to acknowledge the fear.

Don't shame it.

Fear isn't a weakness, it's protection.

Your brain is wired to keep you safe by avoiding uncertainty.

Instead of fighting that fear, recognize it.

Name it.

Once you see it for what it is, a survival response, not a truth, you take back control.

Number two, get curious.

Instead of defensive, fear locks you into defense mode.

And curiosity.

It opens you right back up.

Ask yourself, what am I actually afraid of?

Losing control, Looking foolish?

Starting over.

When you define the fear, you shrink it.

When you get curious about what's behind it, you turn anxiety into awareness.

Number three.

Remember past transitions that you survived.

Every big change in your life.

Felt uncertain at first, and you made it through.

Go back and look at the times that you've adapted.

Before, maybe it was a new job, a technology shift, a personal challenge, and remind yourself you've done this before and you're stronger for it.

Shrink the size of the change.

Big change feels scary because it looks overwhelming.

Break it down.

You don't need to transform overnight.

You just need to take one step that moves you forward.

Micro adaptations compound one change in how you work.

One new tool, one conversation with someone who's already adapted.

That's momentum.

Number five, Find somebody to walk with you.

Fear thrives in isolation.

Talk it out.

Surround yourself with people who are also learning, experimenting and adapting.

Change feels smaller when you're part of a community that normalizes growth and then celebrates it.

Number six.

Reframe the risk.

We tend to fear the risk of changing, but rarely acknowledge the risk of not changing.

Ask yourself, what do I lose if I stay the same?

The fear of staying stuck should always outweigh the fear of moving forward.

Number seven.

Focus on the reward, not the risk.

You can't see the other side of change yet, but you can imagine the potential.

Visualize the gain.

More freedom, more relevance, more creativity, more control.

And let that vision pull you forward.

Because the other side of change is always better.

You just can't see it yet.

Understand that fear is natural, but it doesn't have to be final.

The moment you move with fear instead of away from it, you start to adapt.

And once you take that first step, you realize the other side wasn't something to fear at all.

It was the next version of you just waiting to emerge.

And that takes us to the end of today's episode.

Guys, I'm not sure what it was.

Adaptability this week just felt like the conversation that we needed to have.

The world is changing around us so quickly.

But we shouldn't fear it.

We shouldn't fear it.

We just have to learn how to play with it.

And I'm confident that each and every one of you are going to come out the other side stronger and better for it.

Shout outs this week Tim Lin, Jason Michaud, Jamie Moffat, Adam Kimmel, Colin Harms, Rodney Lover, Vajayan Swaminathan, Gordon Shepherd, Amin Samji, Tony Gray, Gary Noseworthy, Carmen LaBelle, Bradley Perry, Kelsey Watt, Tatsiana, Ed Henriquez, Jason Chakalakal, Chris Friesen, Rudy Zacharias, Mark Weller, Janice Baskin and Susan Pas Seka.

Until next time, You've been listening to the Business Development Podcast and we'll catch you on the flip side.

This has been the Business Development Podcast with Kelly Kennedy.

Kelly has 15 years in sales and business development experience within the Alberta oil and gas industry and founded his own business development firm in 2020.

His passion and his specialization is in customer relationship generation and business development.

The show is brought to you by Capital Business Development, your business development specialists.

For more, we invite you to the website at www.capitalbd.ca.

see you next time on the Business Development Podcast.