🦸 Are you strong enough to get through tough times?
Take the test to measure your AQ (Adversity Quotient) and become a more valuable team member at work.
We’ve all heard of the many types of intelligence: IQ (Intelligence Quotient), EQ (Emotional Quotient), SQ (Social Quotient), or even CQ (Cultural Quotient), but are you aware of how influential your AQ is?
Your AQ or Adversity Quotient measures how well you can balance your thoughts, express with reason and judgment, and make logical decisions in times of difficulty. This applies both in daily life—especially prominent during crises like the current pandemic, as well as at work when dealing with challenges.
What determines your AQ score?
As an individual, there are 5 factors that will determine how well you handle a hard situation: Control, Origin, Ownership, Reach, and Endurance. They’re also shortened as CO2RE.
Control: How skilled you are in controlling yourself and the situation around you.
Origin: The source of the difficulty / problem, could be internal or external.
Ownership: How much you take responsibility and act on the adversity.
Reach: How well you contain a difficulty not to effect other areas of your life.
Endurance: How long the adversity lasts.
Learn more via this Twitter thread by Indonesian Psychology Enthusiast, Andry Waseso, on The AQ Theory—plus how it negates the concept of self-blame.
Is your AQ score considered low or high?
The measurement of AQ is originally developed by Paul Stoltz, who first coined the term in 1997 with his book “Adversity Quotient: Turning Obstacles Into Opportunities.” This book includes studies that show how people with higher AQ scores recover faster from surgery, outpace others in sales, and climb higher in corporations.
To test out where you stand in the AQ scale, you need to answer questions such as:
How much can you influence others to respond favorably to your ideas?
How responsible do you feel for improving the effectiveness of a work meeting?
How will being criticized for a big project you just finished affect you?
How long will you dwell after losing an important file due to a device error?
The above questions are only 4 out of 20 questions you’ll need to answer in a Condensed Adversity Quotient Test. If your score is between 180 to 200, it means you have a high AQ. A score between 160-180 is moderately high, 135-160 is moderate, 120-135 is moderately low, and less than 120 is considered a low AQ score.
Take the short test and find your result here.
Improving your AQ score
The skill of being able to handle a crisis in an appropriate manner is a skill that separates an okay team member from a great team member—and it doesn’t only apply to leaders. Aversities at work can happen due to many reasons, including sudden change in organizational structure and shortage of team members.
When dealt with these cards, it’s an opportunity for you to practice your AQ by:
Facing it with a learner mindset. Don’t be afraid to accept that you don’t know something. When your solution fails, learn along the way and don’t be discouraged.
Be a good collaborator. Listen to others’ (and yours!) concerns, and then get together to carry out the solution to reduce individual stress.
Communicate with empathy. When making hard choices, list your priorities and communicate them with clarity and empathy.
Be a sprinter not a marathon runner. Develop the patience to understand the nature of the adversity. Accept that it’s bound to disrupt your plans.
Read more on how to appropriately handle an adversity at work in this article from Accenture.
Is your AQ score higher or lower than you expected?
Do share this week’s Monday Mavens edition with your colleagues to test out their AQ scores too! You’ll then be able to estimate your team’s AQ average and improve it together to help elevate your team’s quality of work.
We’ll see you next week with more personal growth and productivity tips.
Cheers!