By Peter Drucker’s definition, every knowledge worker who has to make decisions which affect organizational performance is an executive. The noun is all set, the man himself defined it.
What about the adjective? In evolutive theory a characteristic of a living organism is said to be adaptive when it increases the chances of the organism’s survival in its environment. Adaptive can also be used to describe someone who is able to adapt. In both senses the adjective describes the capability to change in order to better meet the environmental challenges.
Adaptation is circumstantial, opportunistic. When things around us change, we ought to change and adapt, increasing our chances of thriving. Adaptation does not usually come from following a preconceived plan, but from matching what we have to how things are like here and now until we find a winning combination.
The adaptive executive is personally capable of adaptation, but being an executive, she is also able to make decisions that help her organization adapt, and thus making it thrive in the new environmental conditions. That is a good part of what made us humans successful over time: no need to wait for the ideal conditions, we adapt.
The Adaptive Executive 