by CUPA-HR | April 14, 2025
Editor’s Note: This is the first of a three-part series by Maureen De Armond, chief human resources officer at Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences, on adapting during changing times. The series continues in Adapting With Purpose and Adapting With Heart.
You have to change with the times.
Roll with the punches.
Go with the flow.
This is just the new normal.
These are not uncommon sentiments during times of change. They’re even reasonable bits of advice and encouragement. However, for many in higher education today, these words may feel inadequate.
For many years, higher ed has been under pressure to adapt rapidly to change. From the COVID-19 pandemic to declining enrollment, technological advancements, and political and compliance demands, the pace of change seems unrelenting.
How do we “adapt” when external pressures challenge our accustomed practices? How do we respond to the demands on our profession across the higher education landscape? How do we navigate the need to adjust without feeling like we’re compromising or settling? Where do we go from here?
Adapt for Survival
In 2022, as the worst of the pandemic seemed to pass, I wrote a piece about adaptability and referenced the Stockdale Paradox, as shared in Jim Collins’ management book “Good to Great.” Let us briefly return to that story to assess what additional insights it may provide during this new chapter of change.
Admiral James Stockdale served in the military and was a prisoner of war in Vietnam for seven and a half years. During this time, he observed that there was a certain kind of soldier that did not tend to survive the ordeal. These were the soldiers who tried to muster up the strength to just make it to Thanksgiving, as, surely, they would be rescued by then. Thanksgiving would come and go, and they remained imprisoned. Then, they would convince themselves if they could just make it to the end of the year, surely they would be rescued by then. December would come and go, and they remained imprisoned.
Admiral Stockdale referred to these soldiers as the optimists. Eventually, the optimists gave up.
Admiral Stockdale, even if he did not use the terminology, recognized that resilience (a burst of energy or strength to help a person through a temporary crisis) was not the right tool for their predicament. Instead, to make it through captivity — with no end in sight and no idea what the next day may bring — what one needed to do was adapt.
Make no mistake about it, Admiral Stockdale did not adapt with a smile on his face. He did not do it to settle, to compromise or to get used to being a POW. He did it with a mission in his heart — to endure. He adapted for survival. And he adapted not just for his own survival but also the survival of as many of his fellow soldiers as possible — men who looked to him for strength and guidance even while he, too, was powerless and wrought with despair.
Admittedly, comparing higher education HR professionals to prisoners of war is a clear stretch. But the analogy reveals powerful insights into what tools may be most suitable to help us navigate these uncertain times. We should resist a mindset of trying to just make it through the summer term, through the fall semester, or to the end of the academic year. Wishing away time is a futile practice and with no guaranteed results.
We should equally resist the temptation to pin our hopes on a miraculous rescue team to come and save the day. That is also wishful thinking.
But we shouldn’t give up. Admiral Stockdale shared that he never lost hope — not even during the darkest days of captivity.
Consider channeling the bigger picture, the one Admiral Stockdale never lost sight of: Survival is paramount. To survive, one must adapt. We have no way of knowing what lies ahead. We may feel powerless some days, like that poor animal in the experiment who gets shocked no matter what it touches. Other days, we may feel like we are busying ourselves with the deck chairs on the Titanic. But even in these moments, we cannot shut down.
People count on us. They trust us to do our jobs to the best of our abilities. Our efforts matter and we still have work to do.
Be the Helpers
There is a Fred Rogers quote from his “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” days that resurfaces from time to time: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”
This is a reassuring view of humankind. No matter how dark or how frightening the world is, there will always be people wanting to help. But it is important to remember that Mister Rogers was talking to children when he shared this observation, not adults.
When scary things happen, we are not supposed to just sit there and hope someone else comes around to help. Mister Rogers was talking about us. We are supposed to be the helpers.
The good news is that the human resources field attracts helpers. The most dedicated among us are those who love to serve others. Whether we specialize in benefits, talent acquisition, training, leadership development, or any other facet of HR, we are drawn to this profession because we want our work to matter and because we enjoy helping people.
Right now, there is a need for helpers — and we are the helpers.
Related CUPA-HR Resources
Resilience in the Workplace — This CUPA-HR webinar, recorded in 2021, was designed to serve as resilience training for attendees, as well as a model that could easily be replicated at your institution for HR teams and other employees.
Why Psychological Safety Matters Now More Than Ever — This article offers practical advice for increasing psychological safety, specifically for the higher ed workplace.
The Great Pivot from Resilience to Adaptability — This article explains how to move from resilience to adaptability and, ultimately, growth in challenging times for higher education.
