I had a Professor in Grad School named Max Raines. The ADAPT model is his. It was explained to us in the context of High School Seniors making the transition to a successful college experience. As you will see, the model here is used in making the transition from "where you are" to "where you want to be" as an entrepreneur/home business owner.
To make this happen will require thought and introspection. It will require work and humility as well as honesty and vulnerability.
ADAPT is an acronym with each letter representing the following: 1) Activate Commitment, 2) Develop Supports, 3) Adjust Expectations, 4) Prioritize Goals, and 5) Transpose Identity.
So, let's take each of these and apply it to help us get from "here to there". Each of these areas is meant to be a brief introduction. When learning this content, it was a full semester for me.
1) Activate Commitment: This is putting a stake in the ground. It is planting a flag and saying, "Let's do this". Of course, this is preceded by doing your "homework" and making a decision based on facts and solid rationale. Focus on the word "activate". It infers s making something happen. To that end, the first step in making a successful transition is to "commit". For some, this is a leap of faith. For others, it is based on the credibility of the person introducing something. Our hope, with our business, is that a commitment is made based on thoughtful analysis and a pragmatic review of all of the variables that can potentially impact your success or failure. Then, and only then, should you make an informed decision that making a commitment that will be in your best interest.
2) Develop Supports: Social Commerce is social. It is sharing. It is educating. It is taking an interest in another human being and helping them become competent and professional. This is perhaps the most important of the steps because if not done fully or properly, people get disenchanted, frustrated and then "drop".
Through this process of developing supports, reality sets in. We get to know people by using this tool. Getting to know someone in a forced, accelerated fashion... and getting to know their core drivers, values and competencies is the best way to baseline where someone is, and their ability to articulate where they want to go. Along with this, is what they are willing to commit to in getting there.
3) Adjust Expectations: Step 2 provides a baseline of "where you are". It is a brutally honest look at your life, complete with strengths and weaknesses. Based on this, you will have a better sense of what is realistic. Will you need to learn new things? Will you need to work at changing behaviors and how you invest the finite hours of your day?
This is a reckoning and reconciliation of the inventory of what you bring to the table as a person of value who is worthy of being followed. There can be no value judgments here. This simply has to be an honest assessment of who you are and what you need to work on.
This is perhaps the biggest failure of the "networking" industry. The monkey-see-monkey-do model and pointing people in the direction of resources falls well short of a tailored strategy that will genuinely help individual progress toward success. People at this stage come to realize that there is work involved - and as a consequence, either rise to the challenge or cower and fade.
4) Prioritize Goals: This step infers you have goals that now need prioritizing. Wanting to make money is a hope or a wish without an executable plan to make it happen. Therefore, prioritizing goals is really about articulating what it is you need to be doing, and then managing your time to make them happen.
As you might infer, this comes down to the nitty-gritty of schedules, to do lists, daily activities... all in the pursuit of executing a plan. Another way of saying it: Your Business Plan.
5) Transpose Identity: Your identity is who you are. This process, if worked through comprehensively, will provide or reveal all of the variables that if identified, confronted and worked on - will enable you to emerge as someone "new". You will be more competent and confident as a home business owner. You will know things of value that you can teach others. You will embody positive behaviors for others to emulate and model.
At the end of the day, you will be a Professional worthy of the compensation you aspire to. This model and this process simply provide a structure to "force" success. There are other models and processes that are of equal value, viability, and validity. ADAPT is simply one way of operationalizing assessment and putting a plan in place to get from where you are to where you want to be - with the help of a mentor to keep you on track and hold you accountable.
