Every future-of-work report lists the skills that will matter most as AI reshapes organizations: creativity, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, adaptability, leadership, resilience. But why these skills? What do they actually have in common?
In this episode, I walk through the argument from my new white paper: these capabilities all depend on cognitive flexibility—the capacity to shift between different modes of cognition based on what a situation requires. And the research suggests flexibility isn’t primarily something we train into people. It’s something that emerges naturally when conditions support it—and becomes constrained when conditions don’t.
This reframes the entire conversation about human capability development. The question isn’t just “what skills do our people need?” It’s “what conditions allow the skills they already have to emerge?”
Download the white paper: https://www.thealive.institute/research
