Organisational Change and Adaptive Capability

KPMG recently published its latest Adaptability Pulse Survey  - an exploration of how organisations “can move beyond reacting to disruption and build the capabilities needed to perform through ongoing uncertainty.”

One finding grabbed my attention.

When asked what gets in the way, leaders pointed to internal challenges such as slow decision-making, competing priorities and organisational complexity.

Not external factors like politics, economics, social change or regulation.

That’s interesting.

We spend a lot of time thinking and talking about change. We invest in change programmes, transformation strategies and new technologies.

And we often use terms like organisational change and adaptive capability as we ask the question:

How do organisations adapt?

But is that the right question?

If organisations consist of people, might a better question be:

What enables people within organisations to adapt?

Organisations don't make decisions.

People do.

Organisations don't notice problems.

People do.

Organisations don't learn.

People learn - and organisations either make that learning possible or prevent it.

I've been wondering whether organisational adaptability is less about strategy and more about the interaction between three human capabilities and conditions.

It Starts With the Individual

Change creates pressure. And pressure changes us.

It hijacks our attention.

We double down on certainty.

We rely on familiar habits.

We stop noticing alternatives.

If organisations are going to adapt, individuals first need the capacity to remain effective while conditions are changing.

This is where psychological flexibility becomes important.

Psychological flexibility is an individual capability that helps us respond effectively to what happens around us - and within us. It becomes particularly important in environments characterised by uncertainty, volatility and change.

Adaptability begins with individuals who are themselves adaptable.

But People Don't Work Alone

Individual capability, however, is only part of the story.

An adaptable organisation depends on people speaking honestly about what they're seeing.

Questioning assumptions.

Admitting uncertainty.

Suggesting alternatives.

Acknowledging mistakes before they become failures.

All of these behaviours involve interpersonal risk.

Psychological safety matters because it increases the likelihood that people will take those risks in the service of learning, rather than avoid them in the service of self-protection.

These are precisely the behaviours organisations need if they are going to continue learning, growing and developing in environments that are pressured, volatile and uncertain.

Leadership Shapes the Conditions

If psychological flexibility is an individual capability, and psychological safety is a team condition, leadership has an important role in shaping the environment in which both are expressed.

Under pressure, people need two things simultaneously.

They need clarity about what matters.

And they need support to navigate the uncertainty that inevitably comes with change.

Too much control reduces initiative.

Too little clarity creates drift.

Increasingly, I've been thinking about this balance through the lens of Supportive Accountability - a framework that encourages leaders to combine clear expectations with genuine support, so people can continue learning and adapting rather than simply complying.

A Developing Thought

I'm still exploring these ideas, so I don't present them as conclusions.

But I'm increasingly curious about a simple possibility.

What if organisational adaptability isn't a capability in its own right?

What if it emerges from the repeated interaction of three things:

• Individuals who can remain psychologically flexible under pressure.

• Teams where positive interpersonal risk-taking is worthwhile.

• Leaders who consistently combine clarity with support.

If that's true, then adaptability may be less about responding to the next disruption and more about developing the human conditions that make adaptation possible every day.

Further Reading

KPMG Adaptability Pulse Survey – July 2026

KPMG's research explores the internal and external factors influencing organisational adaptability and how organisations can build the capabilities required to perform through ongoing uncertainty.