Universities don't lack ideas about the future. They often lack the capacity to implement them. Drawing on conversations with higher education leaders in Canada and Australia, this article explores the growing "adaptability gap" — the space between strategic ambition and an institution's ability to turn change into sustained action.

The future of higher education is often framed in terms of funding, technology, policy, and reform. Yet beneath these debates lies a more fundamental question: can institutions maintain the optimism and imagination necessary to adapt in an environment increasingly defined by complexity, compliance, and caution? This month's newsletter examines why optimism may be one of higher education's most important leadership capabilities.