Employers used to prize IQ. Then they looked for EQ. Now, they want AQ.
While IQ measures cognitive intelligence and EQ measures emotional intelligence, AQ — the adaptability quotient — measures something increasingly valuable in the age of AI. It measures how quickly someone can learn and pivot through constant change.
It’s a shift driven by a rapidly changing workforce. The half-life of a technical skill is now estimated at just 2 1/2 years. Companies continue to restructure around AI. Just last week, Monday.com announced plans to lay off 20% of its workforce, while Goldman Sachs estimates roughly 15 million workers could be displaced globally over the next decade. Meanwhile, recent college graduates are entering one of the toughest job markets in years, with unemployment climbing to 5.6% and more than 40% are underemployed in jobs that don’t typically require a degree.
In this environment, what separates people who thrive from those who struggle is how quickly they embrace what’s next.
What is the adaptability quotient?
Change has always been part of work, but the pace of change has accelerated. The adaptability quotient measures how well someone can respond to uncertainty, adjust their approach and continue making progress as circumstances evolve.
“I don’t think about adaptability as a response to disruption, but rather the ability to change and adapt to the world, situation or moment at hand,” says Sarah Lehman, CEO of Zartico. “It’s a skill and muscle that those who have it will be the ones thriving in today’s world, especially with the change and acceleration of technology.”
But developing AQ isn’t just about learning new skills; it also requires unlearning old ones. Unlearning, or the ability to question your own assumptions, recognize your biases and let go of outdated expertise, is often the hardest part of adaptability. “There are a handful of folks that didn’t want to evolve, and unfortunately they’re no longer with the company,” Lehman says.
Building the adaptability muscle
Adaptability is not fixed, unlike IQ. “I 1,000% believe adaptability can be learned,” Lehman says.
But how is this muscle built? For Julian Castelli, founder of Growth Elevated, adaptability means shifting away from the pursuit of a “perfect resume” and embracing a Silicon Valley mindset of constant iteration. “It’s not a stigma to fail or start over anymore,” Castelli says. “Everyone who started the big companies that we all know about today started by failing on several ideas before.”
To practice failing successfully, professionals need low-stakes environments. Sheila Yorkin, chief communications officer at Westminster University, says internships are the most effective way to navigate early failures before entering the high-stakes corporate world.
And in work environments, this ability to adapt can be developed through a work culture of trust and agency. “We foster [adaptability] immensely by giving people a lot of agency within the organization to see it, own it, solve it, do it,” Lehman says. “If you make a decision that I disagree with, we’ll just have a conversation about it afterwards, and we’ll course correct. I would rather have you empowered in the moment to act based on all the expertise that you have.”
On top of constant iterations, a foundation in durable skills has become key. Durable skills — skills that will survive technological advances — include ethical judgment, critical thinking and communication. Data from the National Association of Colleges and Employers states that communication and critical thinking are at the top of employers’ competency wish lists. This is where higher education, specifically the humanities, can be helpful.
“If you have an A-player and you empower them with AI tools, you can have a 10x A-player. But if you have a C-player and they start using AI, typically they become D-players really fast. They will use AI, and it quickly illuminates their lack of domain expertise to course-correct the tools. You can’t hide behind it.”
— Sarah Lehman
“Many students are not going to get jobs after graduation in a field that is directly related to their major,” says Christopher LeCluyse, professor at Westminster University. “College gives you the ability to question the status quo, question your own biases, question your own assumptions … It’s the ability to step outside the norm and scrutinize it from an outside perspective.”
As AI becomes a daily workplace tool, those same critical thinking skills become even more valuable.
“We need to train our brains in the same way that AI models get trained, which is through information and knowledge,” says Lance Newman, provost at Westminster University. “If we skip that step, then we don’t have the human intelligence to be able to evaluate the work that AI produces.”
AI: The ultimate AQ test
Without developing critical thinking, users lack the ethical judgment required to evaluate biased thinking or hallucinated AI outputs. That foundational training is exactly what prevents individuals from short-cutting their own learning.
“The input that you’re giving to [AI] is going to dictate the quality of the output you get,” Yorkin says. “You still have to be able to organize information and prompt the AI tool with a thoughtful goal in mind, or you end up getting disjointed and nonsensical information back.”
Rather than hiding skill gaps, AI tools magnify them. An adaptable employee uses AI to boost productivity, while an unadaptable worker uses it as a crutch.
“If you have an A-player and you empower them with AI tools, you can have a 10x A-player,” Lehman says. “But if you have a C-player and they start using AI, typically they become D-players really fast. They will use AI, and it quickly illuminates their lack of domain expertise to course-correct the tools. You can’t hide behind it.”
For professionals who embrace AI, the returns are massive. “They are the outliers who are the early adopters seeing tremendous career opportunities because of it,” Castelli says.
Whether a corporate executive is navigating an AI transition or an early-career professional is trying to stand out in a tough job market, the differentiator is adaptability. It’s the ability to embrace what’s new, apply what you learn and continue evolving as the world changes.
