When “Either/Or” Stops Working what a well-placed target on a T-shirt—teach us about adaptability and Leadership with AI

Opening Scene: Executive Coach Mike Sweeney on Adaptability

Executive coach Mike Sweeney stepped onto the stage for a recent TEDx talk, wearing a simple grey tee. Dead center on his shirt was a red bullseye. “It’s my pause button," he said. Whenever his chest tightens or his jaw locks, the bullseye reminds him to breathe before he responds. Adaptability starts with the space between stimulus and reaction.

This powerful visual launched a 60-minute conversation about staying flexible under pressure. Every leader is grappling with this issue as AI compresses timelines and expectations. Below is a distilled story explaining how Sweeney reframes adaptability, the micro-habits that make it stick, and why both sides of any paradox deserve respect.

The Leadership AI Paradox

Sweeney defines a leadership paradox as "an ongoing, unsolvable tension with two seemingly opposing sides." These could be stability versus change or today versus tomorrow. The mistake, he warns, is when leaders treat one side as the hero and the other as the villain. When leaders label the poles Focus vs. Adaptability—two positives—real debate can begin.

This linguistic tweak sounds small, but it forces teams to articulate value at both ends. It is also the first step toward what Sweeney calls emotional equanimity: the ability to remain in the gray long enough to craft "both-and" solutions.

Micro-Habit: Install Your Own Pause Button

Adaptability isn’t a mindset you can summon on demand; it’s a reflex you need to program in advance. For Sweeney, that program starts with his bullseye shirt. Your version might be a watch tap, a Post-it on your webcam, or a lap around the office. Choose anything that gives you eight seconds to stop, breathe, and decide rather than react.

Why It Matters

In high-volatility markets, leaders often decide faster than they can think. A physical cue can prevent adrenaline from driving your strategic choices. This simple action can promote better decision-making.

Micro-Habit: Check Stretch, Not Hours

At Bain & Company, every meeting starts with a quick poll: “What’s your stretch on a scale of 1 to 5?” A three indicates healthy tension, while a five raises a silent red flag. If someone consistently scores a five, the team intervenes before burnout sets in.

Stretch beats timesheets. It measures both capacity and mindset, not just attendance. Sweeney argues that in AI-accelerated environments—where deadlines shift and scope expands—knowing your team’s stretch level is vital. This understanding helps calibrate between pushing your team and providing protection.

Micro-Habit: Draw the Boundaries No One Else Will

“The only people upset when you set boundaries are those who benefited when you had none,” Sweeney quips. He advises executives to audit their phone screen time and Netflix histories to uncover hidden bandwidth leaks.

Why Set Boundaries?

Boundaries create the recovery cycles that adaptability requires. Without them, teams lurch from sprint to sprint, convincing themselves they’re agile while growing rigid from fatigue. Recognizing the need for recovery is essential for sustained performance.

Putting Paradox to Work

When the poles are framed positively and the team is breathing, Sweeney suggests two practical maneuvers:

• The Mule: Combine both poles into a third solution with a single purpose—for example, a customer council that also serves as a beta lab.

• The Tightrope Walker: Allow the team to oscillate deliberately, adjusting their weight week-to-week based on new data.

  
  

Either option is better than swinging between total focus and complete pivots.

Why Adaptability Beats Agility

Agility often gets marketed as speed, while adaptability incorporates speed along with sense-making. As co-host Ken Roden summarized, “Leaders crack when they’re forced to move faster than they can learn.” Adaptability allows the mind to slow just enough to absorb feedback without losing momentum. This quality is essential for leading in an AI-driven environment.

Take-Home Playbook

Adaptability isn’t soft; it’s structural. It resides in the questions you ask, the breaths you take, and the boundaries you defend. Build these micro-habits now, and your team will successfully ride the AI wave instead of getting knocked flat by it.