How to Lead Your Own Learning: Why Adaptability Matters for Your Career Growth

Squiggly Careers
447 views • January 22, 2026

When it comes to learning at work, it’s easy to wait for permission - from managers, organisations, or “the right moment.” In this episode, Helen and Sarah explore how to lead your own learning, even when time, money, or support feel limited. This is Day 4 of the Learn Like A Lobster skill sprint, and the focus is on adaptability — the skill that helps you keep learning when things don’t go to plan. Helen and Sarah explain why relying on perfect conditions can stall your development, and how adapting your approach helps you stay resilient and relevant at work.

🦞 Pre-order Learn Like A Lobster:
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⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 Lobsters, old shells, and self-sustaining growth
01:04 Waiting for permission stalls learning
02:01 Why adaptability matters at work
03:23 Flexibility vs adaptability: the toolbox analogy
05:08 Using AI to adapt in advance
06:48 Live example: Learning goals & scenario planning
09:48 Inspiration & 24hr action

🎯 What You’ll Learn

- The difference between being flexible and being adaptable
- How to anticipate barriers and adapt your learning approach
- How AI can help you plan for obstacles and take action now

AI Prompt:
Act as a squiggly career coach. My role is: [your role]. I work in: [describe your organisation and context]. My learning goal for the next 3 months is: [what you want to learn]. Identify realistic barriers that might get in the way of this learning. For each barrier, suggest adaptive responses I could use to keep learning anyway. Present the output in a simple table.

Learn Like a Lobster Profiler – https://www.learnlikealobsterprofiler.com/

🔔S𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬:https://www.youtube.com/@SquigglyCareers?sub_confirmation=1

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like:
▶️ https://youtu.be/NwgbPJ-pvao
▶️ https://youtu.be/c4Bm6IDGOKM
▶️ https://youtu.be/jdhXZrrc6nY

For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com

More ways to learn about Squiggly Careers:
📩 Download our free career tools: https://www.amazingif.com/toolkit/
📮 Get Squiggly Careers in Action in your inbox: https://bit.ly/SquigglyCareersInAction
📚 Read our books: The Squiggly Career and You Coach You: https://www.amazingif.com/books/

0:00 Hi, I'm Helen. And I'm Sarah. And this
0:02 is day four of the Squiggly Skills
0:04 Sprint. Today we're going to be talking
0:06 about how you can lead your own
0:09 learning. Um, we've already covered
0:10 quite a lot so far in the sprint. So,
0:12 we've talked about learn as you go.
0:13 We've done learning hard moments. And
0:15 now we've got some lots of fun ideas
0:17 that you can take action and take
0:19 control with your learning at work. So,
0:21 the third and final fascinating feature
0:24 of the lobster is they are a
0:26 resourceful, self- sustaining growth
0:29 system. And the way that they do that is
0:32 when they shed those old shells, they
0:35 don't sort of leave those behind. They
0:37 bury them somewhere close by for a handy
0:40 snack.
0:41 >> I think it is my favorite lobster fact.
0:44 And they go back to those old shells and
0:45 they eat them because they are packed
0:48 full of calcium. So when they're growing
0:50 back those big new shells that they
0:52 need, it just helps them to kind of grow
0:54 faster. They're not relying on other
0:57 food sources. I feel like they've really
0:59 kind of taken control of their growth.
1:00 >> So smart. I mean, it's weird, but it is
1:02 a very smart way of guaranteeing your
1:04 growth.
1:05 >> And I think that's the thing we know in
1:06 Squiggly careers, we don't want to make
1:08 our development dependent on other
1:10 people or other places. And I definitely
1:13 remember at the start of my career like
1:15 waiting Yeah.
1:16 >> waiting for my manager to tell me what
1:18 to do. I was very up for it. I was very
1:20 obedient. I was like, you you tell me
1:22 what to do and I'll absolutely do it.
1:24 I'll tick every box. Give me the list
1:25 and I'll tick the boxes. Or expecting
1:28 your organization to have defined, well,
1:30 this is what you need to learn and this
1:32 is what's most important. And then being
1:33 like, and I'll follow somebody else's
1:36 development plan or the kind of
1:37 curriculum like at school where someone
1:39 kind of tells you what you have to
1:40 learn.
1:40 >> Someone giving you permission almost
1:42 like I have to wait for permission to
1:44 learn and grow and do something that's
1:45 going to be for my good for my
1:46 development. And so we don't want this.
1:48 We want you to create as much learning
1:51 as you can because that is the thing
1:53 that is going to help your skills to
1:54 stay relevant. It's the thing that's
1:55 going to help your squiggly career to be
1:57 much more resilient, which is what we
1:58 all want at work. And so today we're
2:01 going to talk about one of the skills to
2:03 lead your own learning that we talk
2:04 about in the book, which is the skill of
2:05 adapting. So why does adaptability
2:08 matter as a skill that helps us to lead
2:09 our own learning? I think this is a
2:12 really like it's a realistic thing. like
2:14 we can't we don't have a perfect
2:16 situation for our learning at work and
2:17 there's lots that can get in the way. We
2:19 hear all the time people don't have time
2:21 to learn. I'm too busy to learn at work.
2:24 Sometimes the things that we might want
2:26 to do might require investment and it's
2:28 definitely been times that you and I
2:30 have wanted to learn and actually it has
2:32 required some money to do it and that's
2:34 been difficult or maybe some other
2:35 people need to be involved in it.
2:36 there's things that can get in the way.
2:38 And what we don't want is those issues
2:42 or barriers to be a blocker for your
2:45 learning. And so adapting is this skill
2:48 that helps us to get around it. It means
2:50 that our learning doesn't stall even
2:52 when it might feel difficult to do. And
2:53 and the reality is it often does feel
2:55 difficult to do, but the people that are
2:57 adapting keep learning and growing even
3:00 in those moments. So that's why that's
3:02 why it matters for us as a skill with
3:03 our learning. It's almost knowing now
3:05 that you will need to adapt and then
3:08 being proactive and intentional about it
3:10 rather than being surprised by it and
3:12 being then I think you're more likely to
3:14 stall or or get stuck.
3:16 >> One of the expert insights um from
3:17 someone called Heather McGawan that we
3:19 have in the book and we have lots of
3:20 expert insights sort of dotted through
3:22 on different areas. Um but this one's
3:24 really stuck with me. you know when you
3:25 write something and I've like I've
3:26 shared it with people I keep coming back
3:28 to it and she talks about the difference
3:30 between flexibility and adaptability and
3:34 she describes flexibility as imagine
3:37 you've got a toolbox and at the moment I
3:39 don't know you're doing some DIY which I
3:40 I never do so I will have to imagine
3:42 that
3:42 >> okay let's go with it
3:44 >> imagine I was doing some DIY and you're
3:47 using a kind of a spanner that's the
3:49 tool that you're using when you are
3:51 flexible you recognize that sometimes a
3:53 spanner might not be what you need I
3:55 need to swap it for a hammer. I mean, I
3:57 was really grasping.
3:58 >> How many things do you know in a tool
3:59 box?
3:59 >> Those those two I was like, is there a
4:01 knife or that was the other thing I was
4:03 going to say in most tool boxes? But
4:06 knife, like a sadly knife that might get
4:07 there, but yeah, I was really grasping
4:09 there. But so you've got when you're
4:11 flexible, you sort of you recognize
4:13 sometimes you need to change, but based
4:15 on sort of what you've already got, when
4:18 you are adaptable, you notice that
4:20 actually that toolbox isn't the right
4:23 toolbox. I I kind of can't iterate.
4:26 There's not something I've already got
4:27 that's going to solve my problems.
4:29 Actually, I need to think differently.
4:31 >> I need a different kind of toolbox.
4:33 Maybe I don't even need a toolbox
4:35 anymore for this job. I need something
4:36 completely different. In my case, I
4:38 would need a person who would know how
4:39 to do that thing. Um, but I find that I
4:42 think that is a useful distinction to
4:44 make because I think sometimes we do
4:45 just need to be flexible. Um, but when
4:48 we're adaptable, it often is about
4:50 going, I still want the same outcome,
4:52 but I am going to need to approach this
4:54 in a new way because maybe I haven't got
4:56 the cash or I haven't got the support
4:58 that I did have.
4:59 >> And sometimes I think with this skill of
5:00 adaptability, sometimes you get, oh, you
5:03 know, just be more adaptable and you're
5:04 like, nice idea, but how how can I do
5:07 this? And so, the way that we would like
5:09 to help you with the how is to use AI as
5:13 a bit of a helpful hand in this. And so
5:15 we have got a prompt which will help you
5:18 to think about your learning like what
5:19 do you want to learn and it will help
5:21 you to think about why you and how to
5:23 adapt your response so that barriers
5:25 that might come up don't get in the way
5:28 of your growth. So the way the AI prompt
5:30 works and you'll have this so you can
5:31 just cut and paste this from from the
5:33 emails and all the resources that we
5:34 send to you is you first of all start
5:37 with my role is so tell the AI a bit
5:39 about what you do then where do you work
5:41 the organization that I work in so
5:43 describe that is it a big company small
5:46 is it fast growing like what what does
5:47 it kind of feel like then share the
5:49 learning goal that you've got for the
5:51 next 3 months and then you want to kind
5:53 of ask the AI this is where you're
5:54 getting the AI to do the hard work is
5:56 what are some scenarios that could get
5:58 in the way of my learning. You could
6:00 tell it I want three scenarios, I want
6:01 five. Or you could just ask it for as
6:02 many as it will come up with. And then
6:04 really importantly and then how could I
6:07 adapt and what actions could I take to
6:09 sort of um to approach to kind of
6:11 overcome some of these potential
6:13 obstacles because where I think this
6:15 becomes particularly useful is actually
6:17 when you read those actions, if this is
6:19 helpful, they are often things that you
6:21 could do now anyway because that will
6:24 never be wasted. If anything, you're
6:25 just going to learn even more. So what
6:27 we're not saying here is oh then wait to
6:29 see if that happens and then oh when
6:31 that happens at least I've got some
6:32 ideas. I think you are preempting you
6:35 are preempting things that could get in
6:37 the way of your learning that could stop
6:38 you from leading your own learning so
6:40 that you can take action today.
6:42 >> It's like adapting in advance really
6:43 rather than having to adapt in reaction
6:46 to something that's happening. So you're
6:47 on the front foot with your learning.
6:48 >> So we both had a go.
6:49 >> Okay.
6:50 >> What did you put in for your learning
6:51 goal? I put in for my learning goal that
6:53 I wanted to learn a bit more about
6:56 innovation models and how they could be
6:58 applied to our company. It's something
7:00 it's kind of a relearn thing because
7:01 it's something I used to do earlier on
7:03 in my squiggly career and I'd like to
7:04 relearn and apply it to our company. So
7:06 that's what I put in there.
7:07 >> And what how did you get on? What did it
7:08 come up with in terms of scenarios?
7:10 >> Well, first of all, it came up with
7:11 some, you know, like the actual things
7:12 that might get in my way, which I I
7:14 found quite useful. I was like, "Yes,
7:15 these might get in my way." It's just
7:16 kind of like you're empathizing with me
7:18 like the urgent make friends with your
7:20 GP. Don't be lulled in, Helen. I've been
7:22 lulled in by it. Cognitive overload. I'm
7:24 like, yes, yes, chat GBT, this is it.
7:27 But in terms of what it said to me,
7:28 adaptations, it's really useful. Micro
7:31 innovation tasks, 15 to 20 minutes um
7:33 every week. Use models as springboards,
7:36 not straight jackets. It knows, it knows
7:37 I like alliteration. It spent enough
7:39 time with me. Create an innovation
7:41 dashboard with three indicators. And so
7:43 it took, what I found really useful is
7:45 it took every challenge that I'm likely
7:47 to have and it gave me one adaptive
7:49 response. And to your point, I'm
7:50 actually I look at them, I'm like, "Oh,
7:52 yeah. Why wait? These are these are good
7:54 things that I could do right now."
7:55 >> Yeah.
7:55 >> What about you?
7:56 >> My learning goal was to spend time in
7:59 organizations listening to people talk
8:01 about careers and learning. So, what we
8:03 would call like a squiggly career
8:05 safari. Yeah. So, sort of spending time
8:07 outside of our dayto-day, but in kind of
8:10 learning from other people, like what's
8:11 on their mind, like what's getting in
8:12 their way. Um, I asked it to share the
8:14 scenarios and actions in a table. I sort
8:16 of wanted it I actually wanted it kind
8:18 of laid out in that way. Um and again
8:20 like you the potential scenarios they
8:23 don't really feel like scenarios. They
8:24 just feel like things that are
8:25 definitely going to happen. So one of
8:27 them was like client organizations are
8:29 too busy to host you and you're like
8:30 yeah some of them will be kind of too
8:32 busy. And then it talked about oh you
8:34 could offer shorter micro visits virtual
8:37 ones join an existing meeting. So you're
8:40 just turning up to one meeting. And then
8:42 one of the other ones that I really
8:43 liked was um it talked about my internal
8:46 workload spikes. I was like yes that
8:48 obviously always happens. And it said
8:50 block non-negotiable field days into
8:53 your calendar. So it was like almost
8:54 going oh but that is just part of your
8:57 work. Don't see that as like a if your
8:59 workload spiked you can't just kind of
9:00 take that away. So I then found it
9:02 really useful actually more useful but
9:04 probably just like what I would do now
9:06 versus oh like I can't ever imagine that
9:09 scenario. I guess you could ask it to do
9:11 if you felt like some of the scenarios
9:13 weren't uh almost like worst case
9:15 scenario enough or more ambitious, you
9:17 could build on it. You could say, well,
9:19 what would some worst case scenarios be?
9:21 >> And we know that there are hundreds of
9:23 teams that are sprinting together and I
9:24 think this is a really nice thing to
9:26 share in your team because not only are
9:28 you sharing learning that you want to
9:30 focus on, which is really, really
9:32 helpful. I think then with these sort of
9:34 adaptive responses, people can also
9:36 support you with them. So you can say
9:37 like this is the adaptive response that
9:39 I want to action and then there's almost
9:40 like a bit of accountability, a bit of
9:42 support that I might get from people in
9:43 my team. I think it's a really useful
9:45 team conversation to have.
9:46 >> So as we've done on the other sprint
9:48 days, we're now going to finish today's
9:49 episode with an inspiring quote to keep
9:52 you growing and a 24-hour action to keep
9:54 you going. So the quote that we have
9:56 picked out is from Kahar Oor, who is the
9:59 group CEO of Langor, a company that we
10:02 we work with. um and his quote is that
10:05 when you come across something
10:06 challenging, view it as a great
10:08 opportunity for curiosity and learning
10:10 rather than as a stumbling block. I
10:12 think it talks talks so well to the
10:14 point that we've said today about
10:15 adapting. And your 24-hour action is
10:18 have a go at that AI scenario planning
10:20 prompt. We've already written it for
10:22 you, so that might be a good place to
10:24 start, but also have a play around with
10:26 writing your own versions. Um also with
10:28 how you want the information presented.
10:30 I think it's often just a good way to
10:31 kind of think how could this work for me
10:34 and if you can do it as a team I think
10:36 there is a lot of value in sharing
10:37 learning goals together. That's the end
10:39 of day four of our squiggly skills
10:41 sprint. Tomorrow we're back with our
10:43 final day. So make sure that you come
10:44 back. Make sure that you complete the
10:46 sprint. We've got a really good day.
10:47 We're going to focus on lead your own
10:49 learning and we've got some great ideas
10:51 for how you can get sharing your
10:52 learning.