The People Adapting Best Aren’t Running Full Throttle

Photo by Kevin Grieve on Unsplash

If you’ve read my last couple of pieces about AI and consistency, you may be wondering whether I’m becoming “the AI person.”

I’m not.

What I am interested in is consistency. More specifically, what consistency looks like when the world changes faster than humans naturally like.

Consistency in the AI Era: Why Adaptability Matters More Than Mastery

Back in 2023, a friend came over and sat at my kitchen table showing me ChatGPT. He was an early adopter, the kind of person whose brain naturally moves toward new technology with curiosity and excitement.

And I love this friend, so I wanted to be excited about what he was excited about so I tried.

I remember sitting next to him while he showed me example after example, watching him light up as he explained the possibilities. I could intellectually understand why he found it fascinating, but mostly I remember thinking:

I genuinely do not understand how this would apply to my life.

Neat for you, though. :-)

Then AI started showing up more often in my work life. Colleagues would mention an article, a tool, something they were trying. I’d experiment a little, leave it alone again, and then come back when curiosity or usefulness pulled me back in.

I’ve learned this after years of writing, coaching, lifting, parenting, building, grieving, rebuilding, and beginning again:

Consistency Becomes More Sustainable When the Unfamiliar Enters Through Something Familiar

Now I use AI daily.

Sometimes for work. Sometimes for brainstorming. Mainly like a Chief of Staff helping me organize thoughts that are feeling tangled in my head.

And yep, occasionally I stand in front of my full-length mirror taking selfies and use AI as a Sartorial Shoe Selection Consultant. :-)

Years ago, this (consistent) struggle would have meant driving to a friend’s house, standing in her bedroom doorway, and asking, “Be honest. Does this work?”

Then it became texting photos with the same question.

Then FaceTime video.

And now? It’s usually AI.

Which, as I type this I’m realizing is less about technology and more about me always trying to get a second set of eyes on something I’m not fully sure about yet.

Looking back, I think this shift happened for the same reason I’ve always encouraged clients to do unfamiliar things in places that already feel familiar.

If a client is overwhelmed by a difficult work-project, I’ll often suggest they take their laptop to a coffee shop they already love. The work may feel hard, but the environment doesn’t.

That’s the pattern: consistency becomes more sustainable when the unfamiliar enters through something familiar.

What We Used to Call “Coachable”

The more I watch people respond to change, the more I think what we used to refer to as being “coachable” may actually be one of the most important modern life skills.

I’m not saying everyone needs to become an AI evangelist or move at the speed of Silicon Valley. Thoughtful people should have questions about technology powerful enough to reshape how humans work, think, create, communicate, and learn.

But I also think rigidity becomes harder and harder to sustain in rapidly changing environments.

The people who adapt best are rarely the people who instantly understand everything. More often, they’re the people willing to stay engaged long enough for understanding to evolve.

People grow when they stay willing to come back to things before they fully understand them.

Structure Is Freedom

That realization brought me back to the work we were doing while building the Upili mental health program in Kenya.

We were trying to find the right level of structure for counselors working across different schools. Not rigid scripting, but enough to create consistency while still leaving room for the unpredictability of real counseling work.

What surprised me most wasn’t the curriculum. It was how quickly people relaxed into structure when it was designed with enough flexibility.

Eventually, we landed on something deceptively simple:

“The topic this week is anxiety. Teach it in the way that best serves your students.”

The consistency was never in identical delivery. It was in shared direction with enough flexibility for real human work to actually happen.

Consistency Is Adaptability

The counselors in Kenya didn’t need rigid scripting. They needed enough structure to stay connected to the work while still making it their own.

This is true in organizations, relationships, and learning. And increasingly, it feels true in how we humans adapt to technology as well.

A friend at my kitchen table showing me ChatGPT.

Mirror selfies asking if the shoes worked.

The people who adapt most sustainably are rarely the ones who run full throttle toward change.

They’re the ones who stay engaged long enough for change to become familiar.