AQ - The Agilism Quotient
Most of us are now familiar with 'emotional intelligence, otherwise defined as "emotional quotient" or "EQ." In short, it's the ability to positively understand, use, and control your emotions to ease stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, solve problems, and stop fights. As a result, emotional intelligence helps you have better relationships, do well in school and work, and reach your personal and job goals.
However, what it needs to take into account is our ability to handle change and uncertainty. At its core, any form of change, transition, reinvention, or pivoting is emotional. It upsets what is comfortable and familiar. On the one hand, it brings doubt, fear, anxiety, and sadness. Yet, on the other hand, we can feel joy, anticipation, and excitement. Often, we experience both sets of emotions at the same time.
We often fail to realize that these emotions can either move us forward or trap us in the past, leaving us unable to move on.
But even if we consider the "change factor" in our emotional intelligence, is it a sufficient measure to handle our ability to handle such frequent change and uncertainty - almost daily?
I think not!
We need a tool that measures our intentional approach to antifragility rather than old-fashioned "resilience," to agilism rather than old-fashioned "adaptability," to thinking about life as nonlinear rather than old-fashioned linear thinking, all while retaining the emotional component.
Far be it for me to suggest another buzzword. But clearly, something is missing here: the growth mindset, the ability to continuously experiment, iterate and unlearn old ways, to anticipate rather than constantly react to external events, to respond well to stressors in life, to keep arranging things that don't work for us, to be able to move on with ease, to prepare financially for a nonlinear, much longer life.
Time for an AQ ("Agilism Quotient")? Any takers?
