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Recently, I ran into a thought-provoking conversation about flexibility and its application at the workplace. I argued that it is quite impossible to be truly flexible in multinational companies operating in Czech Republic.

Our socio-cultural climate has made a notion of consistency overrated. So overrated, that it is stifling individual and organizational flexibility in today’s environment.

Definitions

Consistency: Steadfast adherence to the same principles, course, form.

Flexibility: Capability of being changed

Why are we consistent?

Without a certain level of consistency, our lives would be too confusing and chaotic. Robert Cialdini, an expert on studying compliance, identified three sources of the need to appear consistent:

1. Consistency is valued in our society. The more consistent you are, the more the value of your public image increases.
2. Consistency = convenience. The more consistent you are, the less change you have to deal with, which means less stress for you.
3. Humans are prone to taking mental shortcuts. When faced with a problem, you don’t have to think, all you have to do is to recall your last similar decision and behave consistently with it.

Weakness link

In some more collectivist cultures we can see a bizarre link of inconsistency to weakness. The more often you change your mind or modify a plan, the more you are perceived and labeled as a ‘weak character’. That simple label will devaluate your opinions, suggestions, and input. It will also decrease your influence.

It seems to me that the Czech cultural climate glorifies consistency even to such an extent that standing behind a decision under almost ANY circumstances is valued. No matter that the decision may be based on faulty assumptions, or just downright stupid.

Changing your mind to accommodate a shift in the context is perceived as being inconsistent, and therefore, weak. Needless to say that your authority among your peers and subordinates suffers like a third grader forced to read War and Peace in original.

I don’t have any academic research to prove that, just anecdotal evidence and my own experience. If anyone wants to prove me wrong or support my view, feel free to comment.

Consistency vs. Flexibility

Consistency is mainly about taking a position and standing behind it while not paying so much attention to the circumstances.

A consistent leader says

“We are going to sell 10,000 pairs of male black shoes until the end of the year.”

He won’t stop until the objective is achieved. Notice that there is no mention of an environment in which the sales will take place. It seems like a ‘tunnel vision’ plan.

Flexibility, on the other hand, is about being able and willing to adapt your position in a given situation according to the context.

A flexible leader says:

“We will be selling shoes, and since many men now demand the black ones, we will sell more of them. The desired target is 10,000.”

Guess which one of them is more likely to accurately respond to constantly fluid global business environment. I believe that flexibility is going to become a much more important trait than consistency. That also explains why nimble start-ups are likely to come out of the economic crisis as more competitive than the large firms.

Japanese Kanji sign of Flexibility. Credit: About.com

What do they really want?

Nowadays the employers advertise jobs that require flexibility as a trait. However, if a truly flexible person applies and shows that he is able to operate in flux and uncertainty, he will be judged as inconsistent and weak, thus, unsuitable for the work team and the job.

So, what do the employers really want? Are they ready to accept potentially inconsistent people, or has ‘flexibility’ become yet another buzzword?

I strongly believe that in order to succeed, even large corporations are going to need to adopt flexibility as their guiding principle. When everyone is talking about being customer-oriented; being flexible and adaptable is the only way to capture customers’ fickle and changing desires before it’s too late.

It is hard work, and sometimes it doesn’t pay so well. But it’s the only way to survive.

“Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative.”

- Oscar Wilde