The Octopus Doesn't Only Have One Move. Neither Should You.

We've been learning about the octopus and all the various ways we can learn from it. You might remember that the octopus doesn't just blend in, it adapts … which, in concept, is impressive enough, but "adapt" is a colossal understatement.

Facing a predator wary of venomous fish, it flattens its body, extends its arms, and replicates the silhouette and movement of a lionfish convincingly enough to make that predator reconsider its lunch plans. Facing a territorial damselfish, it tucks six arms into a crevice and waves the remaining two in opposite directions, mimicking the movement pattern of a sea snake. Crossing open sand with no reef to duck into, it flattens its body and undulates along the bottom in a near-perfect imitation of a flounder, gliding across exposed ground without ever presenting the octopus-shaped silhouette a predator would recognize as food.

Same octopus. Three completely different responses. Each one selected deliberately based on what's actually in front of it.

And remember, it is doing all of this while being completely colorblind. It cannot see the colors it's replicating. The current hypothesis is that its skin contains photoreceptors, light-sensitive cells, meaning it may be reading and responding to its environment through its entire body simultaneously, not just its eyes.

It doesn't wait until it fully understands how it's doing what it's doing. It just does it. The situation demanded a response, the octopus read what was in front of it, and it adapted.

If you walk into a room full of potential clients, you will behave a certain way. If that room instead was filled with referral partners, you wouldn't present yourself the same way. You wouldn't engage in the same way.

When you're having one-on-ones with colleagues and other professionals through the course of your networking, you are representing not only yourself but your business and you should show up accordingly.

I'm not suggesting you create a persona or character for yourself. That would be inauthentic.

I'm talking about adaptability, and the ability to read a room and respond accordingly.

One of my friends from high school works in the marketing and advertising space. He worked at large ad agencies covering campaigns for Dodge and Nokia … and small local businesses as well. He told me a story once where he had applied for a job at an agency, got an interview, and dressed for what he thought was the part.

He showed up in a sport coat, slacks, a nice button down … but when he walked into the office, he saw that everyone there was in t-shirts, shorts, and jeans, and that he had made assumptions about the culture there and misread the situation.

So as the interviewer walked him through the office, taking him to the conference room where they would hold the interviews, my friend took his jacket off, unbuttoned the top button of his shirt, rolled his sleeves up, and tried to match the energy and vibe of the office. He didn't want to come across as someone who wouldn't fit in, or whose approach would be too formal or corporate.

Now, he wasn't putting on a show … or presenting himself as someone he's not. He entered a situation and adapted to it.

If you're giving the same pitch regardless of who you're talking to or where you're at, how would you change? Where do you think adaptability could serve you in the future?

Any experienced attorney or financial advisor will tell you that every interaction is different. Each client, each referral partner, each colleague or employee. Every situation. When you look back at the last week, or the last month, did you adapt to what was actually in front of you, or did you stick to the script and hope for the best?

Let me know where you think you could make some subtle changes to respond to what and who are in front of you. Next time you're having a coffee chat, talk it over with whoever you're with. See what adaptability means to them. And if you catch yourself running the same pitch on repeat, hit reply and tell me who you ran it on this week, or send this to a colleague who could use the nudge to adapt.