Display Some Adaptability: The Wisdom of Jack and Bobby Shaftoe

One of my favorite authors, the novelist Neal Stephenson, created a family that epitomizes the virtues of adaptability: the Shaftoes. The Shaftoes were first introduced in Cryptonomicon, but we discover their ancestor, Jack Shaftoe, who displayed amazing, resilient adaptability, in the Baroque Cycle novels (think Captain Jack Sparrow on steroids). Whenever the 20th century Shaftoes (Marines and marine salvage operators) encountered a problem or crisis, their signature phrase and action was to “display some adaptability.” This is good advice for all of us.

 Change happens. [Feel free to insert a more colorful term for ‘change’.] How we respond to that change indicates how adaptable we are. One would think we would all be pretty adaptable since we are the descendants of those who survived prior changes. But that is the thing about change: it changes. Techniques/behaviors/physiology that worked, or at least didn’t hinder, in the past may well be less than optimal today.

 Some changes require fast action: your house is on fire, run, call 911! But many changes give you a chance to pause and think about how you could best adapt to the change. Here the techniques/behaviors/physiology of the Shaftoes can provides us with some useful guidelines.

• Be aware of your surroundings. Don’t go through life on autopilot. Change is less likely to take you by surprise.
• Become acquainted and make friends with those who come from backgrounds/cultures that differ from yours. You can learn a lot from them and they may provide you with needed contacts when change occurs.
• Try out new things and learn new skills. You never know when they will come in handy.
• To emphasize the previous point: Never Stop Learning! The ability to learn is key to displaying some adaptability.
• Get plenty of exercise: stay in good shape. Change is easier if you are healthy and fit.
• No matter how much change flattens you, if you use your brain and get help from your friends, you can survive, and even thrive, when change occurs.

I know that many of you have read Cryptonomicon and the Baroque Cycle. Are there any guidelines you would add to this list? Please add comments.

And don’t forget to Display Some Adaptability!