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1. Develop adaptive leadership at every level
Adaptive leadership is not only an executive responsibility. Davis and Spangler describe three connected roles: executives set direction, change agents translate it into actionable plans, and teams closest to the work carry out execution and respond to what they encounter.
For this to work, decision authority should sit as close as practical to the relevant information, with clear limits and escalation paths. Executives still provide priorities and guardrails; teams need enough room to respond when implementation reveals new constraints or opportunities.
2. Anchor daily choices in purpose and direction
A vision, values, and principles matter when they help people make choices—not merely when they appear in a mission statement. Use them to explain trade-offs, set priorities, and guide decisions that cannot be fully specified in advance.
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A useful test is whether employees can connect their current work to the organization’s purpose and explain how that purpose informs a difficult decision. If not, leadership may need to clarify the direction or make it more visible in everyday operating conversations.
3. Integrate strategy with execution, while adapting both
Execution should connect specific actions to organizational goals, but the connection cannot be a one-way cascade from a fixed plan. As conditions change or new evidence emerges, leaders may need to adjust the strategy, the work, or both.
Make accountability explicit: identify who owns each outcome, who can change the approach, and which decisions require broader approval. That clarity helps teams adapt without losing sight of the organization’s objectives.
4. Establish consistent cadences and intentional habits
Regular planning, execution, and governance rhythms create predictable moments to coordinate work, surface problems, and respond in time. The right cadence depends on the work; the point is to make review and adjustment routine rather than wait for a crisis or an annual planning cycle.
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5. Connect goals, progress, and decisions
Goals and key outcomes need to be linked to measures of actual progress and to decisions people can take. Reviewing progress is useful when it reveals whether work is on track, what is blocking it, and who is accountable for the next response.
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Choose measures that help teams act, rather than collecting metrics simply because they are available. When a measure signals a problem, define who investigates it and what decision the review can trigger.
6. Manage change adaptively and involve affected stakeholders
Bring affected stakeholders into change early enough to shape how it is implemented. Co-creation can expose practical concerns before they become resistance and help teams make implementation workable in their own context.
Break change into manageable steps where appropriate, learn from implementation, and adjust as new information appears. This does not mean abandoning the intended outcome whenever there is friction; it means distinguishing a useful course correction from a loss of direction.
7. Learn from execution and renew what no longer works
Execution provides information about whether processes, assumptions, and decisions are serving their purpose. Use that learning to refine the work and revisit the other six practices, rather than treating the operating model as permanent.
Renewal can include removing outdated or unnecessary practices. Tie changes to measurable outcomes so the organization can see whether a revised approach is helping, and continue learning from what happens next.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to apply the seven practices in your organization
The following questions are a practical way to examine the model, not a validated assessment instrument. Consider them together: a gap in one area may undermine the others.
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- Leadership: Who sets direction, translates it into plans, and makes decisions close to the work?
- Purpose: Can people connect their daily priorities and trade-offs to shared values and direction?
- Strategy and execution: Are actions tied to goals, and is it clear who can change the approach?
- Cadences: Do planning and review rhythms surface issues soon enough to act?
- Goals and decisions: Do progress measures lead to timely decisions and named accountability?
- Change: Are affected stakeholders involved early, with room to learn and adapt implementation?
- Learning and renewal: Do lessons from execution change later decisions, processes, or habits?
Use the answers to identify a specific execution problem and choose a small, observable change to address it. Then review whether the change improved alignment, decision speed, or the outcome that matters. Avoid treating the seven areas as a score unless you have separately designed and validated a measurement method.
What the model does—and does not—establish
The CIO interview presents AdaptiveION’s AdaptiveEXECUTION framework through its co-founders; it is not an independent evaluation of organizational results or a comparison with other management frameworks. The interview includes statistics attributed by the speakers to Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, McKinsey & Company, Gallup, and Boston Consulting Group, but it does not identify the underlying reports, their dates, methods, or definitions. Those figures should not be treated as verified current benchmarks or proof that these practices cause particular outcomes without checking the original studies.
AdaptiveION’s resources page lists AdaptiveSPARK, AdaptiveCOACH, and AdaptiveACCELERATOR. Their inclusion does not establish that the model has been independently validated.
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