Developing Adaptability Skills

"We need to get some comms out about the org change. Can you draft something up?" This was a request I got in a former job when I was Head of Internal Comms. A major organisational change was coming but there was a problem. 🫠 I had no idea what the change actually was. Every leader I spoke to described it differently. One said it was about restructuring. Another called it a strategic pivot. A third focused on cost-cutting. But there was mounting pressure to "get something out there" and "do some quick comms on this", as if I could magically create clarity from something that didn't seem to be agreed on yet. Instead of just saying "no", I decided to try something different in the next leadership meeting. "Humour me," I said. "Let's do a quick exercise. We'll go around the table and I want each of you to tell me what this change is about in one sentence." Now I won't lie. They laughed at me at first, because it sounded ridiculously simple and like a waste of time. But the laughter quickly stopped once people started giving their answers. Leader 1: "It's about making us more agile and responsive to market changes." Leader 2: "We're restructuring to reduce costs and improve efficiency." Leader 3: "It's a strategic shift to focus on our core business areas." Leader 4: "We're streamlining operations to be more competitive." Four completely different interpretations of the same "change." And I remember the absolute SILENCE in the room as the penny dropped. How can you communicate about a change when the leaders aren't even aligned on what the change IS? I remember the moment I realised that doing that simple exercise completely changed the conversation. It went from "let's send some comms" to "we need to get aligned on what this change really is as a leadership team." Because one thing I've learned over the last decade is this: No amount of clever messaging can fix a lack of clarity at the top. As you get more senior in your comms career, your job is less about writing words and more about pausing to ask the awkward questions that no one else is asking. There is such power in slowing down and asking good questions. Get alignment and agreement first and this will save you months of dealing with confused employees and contradictory messages. Your curiosity is a superpower. Use it! –––– 🚫 Don’t let an algorithm decide what you read; join 7,677 readers who get my weekly internal comms tips straight to their inbox. ⬆️ Click "Try my free newsletter" on my page to sign up.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿? The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Survey 2024 makes one thing clear: 𝗯𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟯𝟬, the 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 won’t be memorised facts, but 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆. As this chart shows, the world is shifting:  • From static knowledge to lifelong learning  • From routine tasks to creative and analytical thinking  • From individual achievement to collaboration and emotional intelligence. As educators and policymakers, we must ask ourselves:  • Are our classrooms cultivating these future-ready skills?  • Are assessments aligned with what will truly matter?  • Are we enabling students to thrive, not just survive, in an uncertain future? It’s time to move from a content-heavy curriculum to one that values agency, self-awareness, and purposeful learning. Every school should, and can, be a place where every child learns to be a problem-solver, a systems thinker, a compassionate teammate and, most of all, a curious, adaptable, humane being. At ThriveNow Education, we believe in a balanced approach. Yes, the future demands adaptability, creativity, and digital fluency but these must be built on solid foundations of literacy, numeracy, and global citizenship. Our curriculum blends core academic learning with real-world experiences, integrated projects, and values-driven action. We support students to achieve in essential subjects, but also to develop the skills and mindsets they’ll need to thrive in a rapidly changing world. Let’s move beyond the false choice between knowledge and skills. The future belongs to those who can think critically, act ethically, adapt appropriately, and connect deeply and that starts with an education that is both rigorous and relevant. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹, 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁, 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗮 𝗼𝗳 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻? 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀—𝗹𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗲𝗱. (𝘐𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦: 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 2030, 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘞𝘌𝘍 𝘍𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘰𝘣𝘴 𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘺)

What If You Had to Reinvent Yourself Tomorrow?   You wake up tomorrow, and your job is gone. No warning. No backup plan.   Just silence – your email access is revoked and LinkedIn is suddenly feeling like a lifeline. What do you do next?   This isn’t hypothetical—it’s happening to many right now.   Some have spent decades in the same industry, only to find themselves sending out hundreds of applications, competing against people half their age, for roles that offer half their salary.   Career stability is an illusion. We assume our expertise, tenure, and network will protect us. But layoffs happen and prolonged unemployment erodes even the most confident professionals.   I have worked with highly skilled professionals who have applied to countless jobs with no response. Not because they aren’t qualified, but because their career identity was tied too closely to a single role, company, or industry.   Change is not only possible – it’s inevitable. The only question is: Will you drive the change, or will it drive you?   Most professionals don’t start thinking about reinvention until they’re forced into it – by a layoff, burnout, or obsolescence. By then, they are reacting instead of leading.   The most adaptable professionals don’t reinvent because they have to. They reinvent because they know they will have to.   Start with three hard questions: 1️⃣ If my career disappeared tomorrow, where else could my skills apply? 2️⃣ Am I networking beyond my immediate role and industry? (Weak ties create new opportunities.) 3️⃣ What is one skill, habit, or project I can start now to expand my career identity?   Reinvention doesn’t mean starting over—it means repositioning what you already have. ☑️ Take stock of your overlooked strengths. ☑️ Leverage skills across different industries. ☑️ Expand beyond your job title before it disappears. I attached a PDF to help you start. The people who struggle the most in career transitions? Those who wait until the ground collapses beneath them.   What’s one small step you could take today to future-proof your career?   #CoachRisto #CareerPerceptions #Reinvention #FutureOfWork

The hard truth to swallow: If you're a great professional in your specialty, that might not be enough. 👇 There are 5 types of skill sets depending on the breadth and depth of knowledge and skills: 1) I-shaped: Deep expertise in one area but may lack versatility. 2) T-shaped: Expertise in one area with broad skills across disciplines. 3) M-shaped: Expertise across multiple specialties for versatile adaptability. 4) V-shaped: Excel in two complementary fields, bridging gaps between disciplines. 5) X-shaped: Deep expertise with leadership skills for diverse team management. When I was at the beginning of my career path, I believed that being I-shaped was sufficient. But before starting my own business and becoming a leader, I transitioned from being I-shaped to X-shaped. 📌 Here's how to progress from I to X: ↳ From I-shaped to T-shaped: Broaden your skill set horizontally by gaining proficiency in related areas. ↳ From T-shaped to M-shaped: Diversify your expertise across multiple disciplines. ↳ From M-shaped to V-shaped: Excel in complementary fields, leveraging your diverse skills to innovate and bridge gaps. ↳ From V-shaped to X-shaped: Develop leadership and collaboration abilities while retaining deep expertise in your area. Success isn't reserved for those who master just one thing. It's achieved by those who embrace their full potential. Skills open the doors to opportunities. Nothing else is that powerful.☝️ On the spectrum from I to X, where do you think you fall? Have you ever hired someone using this framework?

As AI rapidly transforms our industry, I've been thinking about which tech roles will survive – and which won't. Testing code used to require specialized skills. Today, AI can write test scripts that rival those created by mid-level engineers. Tomorrow? 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹. This isn't fear-mongering. It's our new reality. The engineers who thrive won't be those who simply write test code, but those who architect entire testing environments, design integration strategies, and optimize the full delivery pipeline. I recently watched this transformation happen in real-time with Rody, a test automation specialist with 13 years of experience. He recognized the shifting landscape and made a critical decision: to rise above the commodity skills and master DevOps. His journey began with a challenge: implementing test automation for a company without a test environment. Instead of treating this as "not my job," he collaborated with a DevOps engineer to build a Kubernetes-based testing environment from scratch. This experience sparked something profound: the realization that the most valuable engineers aren't just coders – they're architects and problem solvers 💡 Over 18 months (while balancing a new baby, a move, and job changes), Rody transformed his skill set. He now creates Flask applications deployed in Kubernetes clusters, builds Terraform projects integrated with Jenkins, and automates server configuration with Ansible. The AI revolution creates two distinct career paths for engineers: 1. 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗲 with AI at tasks it will inevitably master 2. 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 AI while focusing on skills AI struggles with: system design, integration strategy, and holistic problem-solving Rody chose the second path. He's no longer at risk of becoming another replaceable test engineer in a sea of mediocrity. This pattern will repeat across our industry. The engineers who survive won't be those writing the most code – they'll be those who 🟢 understand how systems connect 🟢 can architect solutions across multiple domains 🟢 continually adapt to change Read his full story here: https://lnkd.in/dXEUBFmP 💬 What skills are you developing that AI can't easily replicate? 💬 How are you ensuring you stay on the right side of this divide?

If you have a job in 2025, hold on to that job. Do not quit. I've been in recruiting for a decade. And I've never seen candidates struggle as much as they are on this job market. If you happen to get laid off, or find yourself as part of a restructuring, you are going to really struggle out there. Because right now you have to apply to hundreds and thousands of jobs. Because every single job is receiving hundreds and thousands of applications. It has become a complete numbers game. On top of that, once you get into interview processes, we're not seeing a two to four week turnaround. Some of these interviews processes are taking three months, four months, five months, they're going on for seven rounds, eight rounds, nine rounds of interviews. We are seeing many assessments, assignments and even after all that, companies are ghosting candidates. They’re changing their minds, putting roles on hold, or cutting budgets altogether. So if you have a stable job right now — even if it’s not your dream job, even if it’s not perfect — hold onto it. Focus on doing well where you are, upskilling, and building internal relationships. Because out there, it’s tough. People are waiting months just to hear back, and by the time they do, the position is already filled or canceled. I’m not saying don’t have ambition or that you shouldn’t look for better opportunities. But in this market, you need to be strategic. Don’t leave stability for uncertainty unless you have something 100% confirmed and signed. This market will recover, but right now, it’s brutal. Be smart, be patient, and protect your paycheck.” Sarah A

Now is NOT the time to stay on the sidelines. AI is rapidly reshaping industries—and preparing the workforce for this shift is more important than ever. This is how: 1. Start early with AI education: From schools to universities, integrating AI into curriculums ensures the next generation is equipped States like Georgia are already leading with K-16 curriculums, helping students build practical skills that prepare them for real-world opportunities. 2. Make AI skills practical and relevant: Workforce programs should focus on immediate, hands-on applications — like using AI tools for data analysis, customer engagement, or optimizing operations. The goal is to upskill individuals in ways that directly benefit industries. 3. Adapt to industry needs: AI is evolving quickly, and so are its applications. Education and training systems must stay agile, equipping people with the skills to navigate emerging technologies and adapt to future job roles. Acting now ensures you’re ready for what’s next. For those already using AI day to day... how did you learn, and what do you do to stay up to date?

Layoffs are all over the news. Don't panic. Just take action. After 25 years of coaching people at all levels through multiple economic cycles, I've seen this pattern before. You can't control the macro environment or what your company will decide to do. But you can control how you position yourself. Here are 6 strategies that can help you build your job security right now. 1️⃣ Make your work obviously valuable Look for high-impact projects. Get involved with initiatives that everyone knows are critical and strategic. The question isn't "Am I doing good work?" It's "Am I working on what matters most?" 2️⃣ Communicate your impact consistently Send simple updates to your manager about what you're working on and the results you're driving. Mention what you’re working on to others. You don’t have to oversell. Facts strategically shared are more powerful than any pitch. 3️⃣ Take the next step Rather than handing off problems, think through the next step. Don't say "I'm stuck. What should I do?" Instead say, "I'm stuck. Here's what I think my next few steps are." Your manager can redirect you, but you've positioned yourself as proactive. 4️⃣ Invest in the skills that make you hard to replace Master the tool no one else wants to learn. Or build expertise in the area the company is betting on. Then invest the time to own it. 5️⃣ Build relationships inside the company Being known and liked often matters more than your performance. It may not be fair, but it's reality. Strong internal relationships help you survive layoffs or find new roles within the company. 6️⃣ Strengthen your external network Stay connected with former colleagues and industry contacts. Offer to help them. Make time for coffee meetings. This keeps you current on market opportunities and gives you options when you need them. Here's the test I give my clients to gauge network health: How many calls would it take you to land a new job? If the answer is more than 10, start building relationships now. 👉 Pick one. Start this week.

Organisations are not "fungible". “Fungibility” is an assumption that if you redesign an organisation & replace one set of people with a different set, you still get equivalent outputs. This mistaken belief underlies many organisational restructures: that you can redistribute roles, reporting lines & teams without meaningful loss. I've been reading Joan Westenberg's recent essay "Communities Are Not Fungible". She examines 1960s urban renewal, when planners believed demolishing old neighbourhoods & rehousing residents would allow communities to reform. They didn't. The residents moved. The community did not. A community isn't a set of people: it's a historically produced web of relationships between them. Destroy the web & you have strangers in a building. The parallel to organisational life is uncomfortable. When we restructure, we may preserve many of the people but destroy the relational infrastructure that made them effective. The informal trust that lets someone ask for help. The shared knowledge of who to call when a process stalls. The accumulated understanding of each other's judgment. These live in relationships, not individuals. Redrawing an org chart doesn't transfer them. Research backs this up. Tacit knowledge (the "knowing how" driving real-world performance) depends on trust to flow. Break those relationships & you block the transfer. Studies show informal networks persist along old lines long after formal structures change, creating tension between old loyalties & new mandates. Social capital is the value created by connectedness. It can be destroyed in restructuring & take years to rebuild — a cost that almost never appears in a business case. What leaders can do to protect collective value: 1. Audit informal networks before redesigning formal structures. Use System Network Analysis or Relational Coordination. Breaking key network nodes causes capability losses no productivity model captures. 2. Treat relational capital as a real cost. Business cases for restructuring rarely account for social capital destruction. Making it visible leads to better decisions & stronger cases for change. 3. Design around high-value relationships. Identify relationships carrying the most trust & history & actively design the new structure to protect them while enabling necessary change. 4. Invest deliberately in building new relationships. Create conditions for them to form through shared work, peer learning & social connection. 5. Give explicit attention to belonging & psychological safety for everyone (not just those who lose or change roles): This creates conditions for the discretionary effort that makes new structures succeed. 6. Slow down at the point of irreversibility. Ask not only "what do we gain?" but "what do we lose - & can we recover it?" The value of an organisation is not the sum of its people's individual capabilities. It is the web of relationships between them. That web is not fungible. Link to the essay in comments.