Our Thinking

The pandemic hit Gen Z during a critical developmental phase, isolating them when they should’ve been out socializing, learning, and exploring the real world. Now, even in a hyperconnected era of endless scrolls, double-taps, and rapid texts, they face a communication paradox—they’ve mastered digital expression but struggle with real, meaningful interactions.

Companies today are tackling multiple challenges, not least the unprecedented change led by AI. This has prompted C-suite executives to re-evaluate their people strategies. They now understand and agree that soft skills/human skills are critical for managing the complexities of modern business, driving innovation, leading teams effectively, and maintaining a competitive edge. But something is missing...

My education on the importance of slowing down to Think Critically was decades ago in a Trauma Room in Ben Taub Hospital, Houston, Texas. I was a photojournalist assigned a photo essay on emergency medicine. Ben Taub is one of the world’s leading trauma centers and at the time the hospital with the most cases of gunshot wounds in the US, to the degree that the US military would send Physicians there for experience. I was given extraordinary access & could photograph whatever I wanted.

In today's Logistics & Supply Chain landscape, the importance of critical skills like Critical Thinking, Adaptability, Collaboration has surged to new heights. AI accelerates change and human skills are critical to adapt to and embrace that change. Can teams innovate without such skills? Unlikely! Discover what it takes to thrive in this AI-driven world, witness how forward-thinking companies are taking action and why the Logistics & Supply Chain industry is our fastest-growing vertical at Hardskills.

"There's much short-term enthusiasm about AI, real transformation is expected in the next 3-5 years. Large-scale models, such as 20,000-person call centers or software teams comprising tens of thousands, are now vulnerable. This is why the ability to think, focus, communicate, and collaborate rapidly and on a scale has become paramount. " Read our Co-Founder Anthony Hayward's insight to position your teams for success in the age of AI.

“People judge you on your performance, so focus on the outcome” - Steve Jobs

Organisations live or die by communications. It’s vital for collaboration, teamwork, and clarity of purpose. It's lovely when Learning and Development teams get it too. Even better when they’re realistic about how long it takes to develop communications skills across teams. Such a hard-to-teach and essential human skill isn’t a one-and-done activity. It takes time to master. But how long? A day. A year. A lifetime?

One of the key themes of 2022 was talent, or, more precisely, the lack of it. The challenge for many companies that rely on technology is that they can’t find enough of the right talent in their home markets. This puts a brake on their growth just as they need to find momentum to escape recession. May India, home to the world’s single largest pool of workers, hold the key?

When we ask large employers in industries undergoing transformational change how many employees they are training in critical soft skills, they tell us it's 1-2% of their entire workforce! ‍ Why is scaling learning such a challenge to the biggest companies?

Quiet quitting has become the latest buzzword in the workplace. But is it truly about lazy employees or about work culture? Read more on how to take on the Elephant in the Room.

If you are headed to court tomorrow, or to surgery or a top restaurant what word comes to mind of your expectation of the legal, medical, or culinary teams awaiting you? I’d suggest it’s that you’d expect them to be TRAINED. That’s because we rightfully expect professionals to be Trained.

The misnomer of the term Soft Skills has been getting a lot of attention lately with Susan David, Matt Sigelman, Tze Chin Ong and Jaanvi (JC) Chawra joining Simon Sinek in questioning the term. Digital transformation has accelerated this view since organizations globally are recognizing that the biggest challenge to Digitalization and business Transformation is not technology but how to develop human behaviors, skills and mindset critical to making change actually happen.

News of slowing growth, cost increases, layoffs and hiring freezes are dominating global headlines. This means businesses are being forced to achieve more with fewer people.  How can organisations best leverage existing talent as they navigate uncertain waters?.

Companies spent more than $23Bn in 2021 on behavioural skill development, a sum on track to double by 2027 as demand increases for teams to be skilled in high-performance traits such as critical thinking, collaboration and agility. This is real money. But what are the real ROI metrics that companies are turning a blind eye to?

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a top 3 global IT services company announced this January that more than 200,000 of its 500,000 headcount is female. TCS is not the only Indian IT services company ramping up its female engineering bench strength. Women make up 34% of the total IT workforce in India (versus 25% in the U.S.). India’s IT industry contributes more than 7% to GDP, employs more than 4 million in India, and is actively expanding local hires in 80 countries. What do India’s IT giants know about the skills women engineers offer that others can learn? 

Learning is an overused word, often misapplied and misunderstood. Teaching skills so the learning sticks and can be retrieved for application at the right moment involves a word that is curiously absent from 99% of discussions about learning…..Memory.

Simone Biles has set a powerful example of having the courage to say No when No was clearly the right answer. In the business arena many people find it difficult to say no. That is why the practical training we give people in our GBS course of How To Say No without using the word No is so popular.

Human capital as a competitive differentiator is moving up the agenda in boardrooms around the world. As those with P&L responsibility scrutinize talent development strategies, they’re asking questions.

A hot topic in the C-suite right now is how to bring Business Agility across the workforce so an enterprise can take advantage of digitalization and innovate faster than the competition.

“Delayed Gratification” is a term that hasn’t readily come to mind over recent years of globalisation, and digital accessibility to virtually anything.

Watching recent U.S. congressional hearings into antitrust and bigtech, I’ve been struck at the paucity of critical questioning.

We’ve always thought the term “soft skills” was a misnomer given how important these skills really are. Now more than ever!

There is too little talk in the L&D industry about the Science of Learning. Science tells us learning in adults requires a structured learning framework and approach.