SUBTEXTMany of us have the wrong idea about flexibility. We think of
it as a weakness, a form of vacillation, an inability to make a
firm decision. We see a flexible person as someone willing to
take second best, who sends out a subtext of uncertainty.
But we should look at flexibility from another point of view: If
you are a flexible person, you don't limit yourself. You understand
the importance of switching your goals if your original goal is
impossible to reach, or if the difficulty in reaching it is not worth
the end result. If one approach doesn't work out, the flexible
person doesn't persist in it. You cut your losses and move to a
more logical and workable solution.
Flexibility requires a particular kind of philosophy. The flexible
person is continually reevaluating goals. You question yourself
about the importance of those goals, and above all you are able
to fight the cliches of our culture. Boiled down, it becomes a
matter of testing reality at every step.
Will this approach cause us to give up the vaunted American
Dream? We've been taught that if we set our sights on something
and go after it, we will succeed. All it takes is hard work and
determination, and someday we can be president, if not of the
nation, then of General Motors.
Must you give up this dream if you adopt a flexible approach?
Perhaps, but you must realize that it might only be a dream.
Understand the odds against it. Set goals, but realize how realistic
those goals are.
TESTING YOUR FLEXIBILITY
One important aspect of flexibility is the recognition of alternative
solutions. If your job demands that you get from New York to