Media Interviews

Adaptation, Empathy & Creating Magic with Friends — Authors Heather McGowan & Chris Shipley

By Cornelius McGrath

Heather McGowan and Chris Shipley are co-authors of a new book called the Adaptation Advantage, published by WILEY. But more importantly, they are two people I’ve deeply admired and looked up to for nearly 6 years. It’s hard to sum up the brilliance of Heather and Chris. Their ability to talk in-depth and connect the dots between a vast array of subjects is second to none. Our conversation today touches on work, identity, education, creativity, collaboration, and society. Heather and Chris' central philosophy around adaptation in a world where the only constant is change is a message I believe everybody can benefit from during this time of uncertainty and rapid technological evolution. If you’re looking for a silver bullet on how to live a life that is authentic to who you are, in a world that is changing by the second, Chris and Heather might just be the folks you’ve been looking for all along.

Adaptation Advantage with Nexxworks

Heather gave a webinar talk about the Adaptation Advantage Book where she discussed how the coronavirus has been an accelerant to the Future of Work creating an even greater imperative for adaptation.

The Interview: The Adaptation Advantage: Answers for the Here & Now

‘Rapid unlearning and adaptation are both about how we embrace and absorb new skills and how we let go of old ones. To be able to do both effectively and constantly, they argue, requires a mind shift and an identity shift—a letting go of “who we think we are” and a regular reinventing of yourself. I find this the most original aspect of their book—the important role that identity plays in how and how much we can learn and adapt at the steady pace demanded by this age of acceleration.’

This extract from the Forward by the New York Time’s Thomas L. Friedman of Heather McGowan and Chris Shipley’s The Adaptation Advantage perfectly frames the value of this book for the here and now. For a world turned upside down where millions of workers have been displaced from their jobs and millions more are required to reimagine how they work outside the constructs of a physical workplace and the identity forged within it.