Skip to content
Artwork for Thinkers & Ideas
Thinkers & Ideas · Nov 11, 2025 · 33 min

SuperAdaptability with Max McKeown

In SuperAdaptability: How to Transcend in an Age of Overwhelm, Max McKeown argues that the key to thriving under uncertainty is adaptability—being able to change with your environment, again and again, getting better each time. McKeown is a leading strategy thinker, coach to Fortune 100 companies, and an award-winning author. In his new book, he reveals how figures as different as Frida Kahlo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Simone Biles all relied on the same pattern of thinking to adapt to radically changing circumstances. In his conversation with Adam Job, senior director at the BCG Henderson Institute, he discusses the difference between adaptability and resilience, and how to scale adaptability from one person to a team to an entire organization. Key topics discussed: 01:14 | The power of adaptive intelligence 03:03 | Adaptability vs. resilience 05:15 | The RUN loop: Recognize, understand, necessary action 09:08 | How to help others become more adaptable 11:57 | How to make your company more adaptable 16:19 | Applying the loop logic to innovation 23:56 | Real life stories of adaptability 29:23 | Bringing adaptability to life with illustrations Additional inspirations from Max McKeown: The Strategy Book: How to Think and Act Strategically to Deliver Outstanding Results (FT Publishing International, 2024)

0:00-33:13

transcript

No transcript — this publisher did not publish one.

show notes

In SuperAdaptability: How to Transcend in an Age of Overwhelm, Max McKeown argues that the key to thriving under uncertainty is adaptability—being able to change with your environment, again and again, getting better each time.

McKeown is a leading strategy thinker, coach to Fortune 100 companies, and an award-winning author. In his new book, he reveals how figures as different as Frida Kahlo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Simone Biles all relied on the same pattern of thinking to adapt to radically changing circumstances.

In his conversation with Adam Job, senior director at the BCG Henderson Institute, he discusses the difference between adaptability and resilience, and how to scale adaptability from one person to a team to an entire organization.

Key topics discussed: 

01:14 | The power of adaptive intelligence

03:03 | Adaptability vs. resilience

05:15 | The RUN loop: Recognize, understand, necessary action

09:08 | How to help others become more adaptable

11:57 | How to make your company more adaptable

16:19 | Applying the loop logic to innovation

23:56 | Real life stories of adaptability

29:23 | Bringing adaptability to life with illustrations

Additional inspirations from Max McKeown:


links3