Mindset Matters: The Changing Meaning Of Adaptation Throughout The Business Landscape

Entering a new year offers a bevy of opportunities to explore the changing nature of the business landscape and how the disability narrative is continually making its mark. Yet, it is also a time to pause and ask what these key elements of change are, and how the varying meanings of adaptation are reflected across the larger culture. Too often we hear the word adaptation tossed around, but what does it really mean, and how has it become synonymous with the Disability Economy? In 2023 Mindset Matters is going to explore these ideas further and not only investigate the evolving connotations of adaptation as a word but rather explore how the business milieu from founders, entrepreneurs, executives, and others are actively engaged in meaning-making.

The very etymology of the word adaptation stems from the Old French of the Middle Ages with its original meaning described as “I fit or adjust to.” It is this idea that highlights the very notion that this is a word of action, of movement. Adaptation is a state of being a constantly evolving process. This concept is such an important part of the human story and needs to be praised as a fundamental part of our individual and collective growth. One can argue that the word adaptation and its meaning are the driving force of all human endeavors. It continues to let us evolve as a species and as a culture. Yet too often it seems like a differentiator rather than a unifier. A key objective throughout the upcoming Mindset Matterscolumns in 2023 will be to highlight the true power of expression and meaning of the word adaptation and acknowledge that embracing it through a disability lens will have an enormous impact on the business model of the digital age.

Over the past decade, the business case of disability has become a more prominent topic across organizations making way for a vibrant Disability Economy. In this process, we have begun to see a groundswell of products and services emerging from various industries ranging from beauty to travel and beyond. As companies seek to monetize this growing market, they must investigate for themselves how they define adaptation and more importantly, how that impacts their business from either a product and service side or the mechanics of the corporate culture itself.

There is a lot of ground to cover when deconstructing the significance of adaptation, but it is time that we begin to explore this so that organizations can not only see it as a benefit to their business but a concept that unites their brand with new strategies to help build an inclusive world. The link between adaptation and inclusion is becoming more imperative in the philosophy of business. New generations of workers, and consumers are demanding more from their employers and the businesses they buy from. In a digital age where there is a plethora of choices, people can be much more discerning about not only where they choose to work, and how they work, but also there buying habits. The responsibility that adaption plays in this new business model will only increase over time. Now is the moment for companies to consider adaptation as a fundamental tool of growth.

Over the course of the year, we will survey the role of adaptation and how all its tributaries are making a significant impact across the business ecosystem as we know it and making waves that will continue to foster the growth of this evolving Disability Economy.