Psychological flexibility is the ability to stay grounded, adapt, and remain effective during times of ambiguity or uncertainty. Despite challenges such as shifting priorities, equipment failures, staffing shortages, and funding uncertainty, lab managers need to maintain their focus on their accountabilities, including scientific integrity, safety, quality, and team performance. Lab leaders who have developed psychological flexibility will be able to respond thoughtfully rather than react emotionally to bad news, balance competing demands, and stay aligned with the lab’s strategy and goals while adjusting tactics in the short term. Here are three actions lab managers can take to develop greater psychological flexibility:
#1 – Present moment awareness
Learn how to be fully present in the here and now without being distracted or consumed by issues from the past or fears about the future. This helps lab managers stay attentive to what is actually happening in the lab and be data-driven, rather than operating on assumptions. Being more present in the lab will also help lab managers build stronger relationships across the team. Use short daily or weekly reflections to ask yourself about events you responded to versus those you reacted to.
#2 – Openness and acceptance
Make space for uncomfortable feelings and thoughts without needing to change or escape them. Separate facts from negative internal self-talk. Explicitly identify the difference between what we know and what our assumptions are. Develop emotional regulation to help manage frustration, urgency, or anxiety, especially during high-stress events like audits, stakeholder disappointment, and other high-stakes decisions. Recognize that ambiguity is often normal in innovative science and not something that can be eliminated. Normalize talking about stress and uncertainty with peers and other leaders in your teams.
#3 – Committed actions
Lean on your key values and the lab's values, especially when under stress or in discomfort. Anchoring decisions this way will help lab managers make better and faster decisions, even around difficult problems, and maintain priorities like safety, quality, and scientific rigor. Encourage open discussion about values and ensure all staff understand the lab's core values and how you make decisions that incorporate them.
Lab managers who develop some psychological flexibility will lead labs with better operational resilience, make better decisions, perform better, innovate, and gain and retain the trust of key stakeholders.
