Yesterday I shared some highlights from Deloitte’s 2026 Millennial and Gen Z survey.
One bit that had me raising a curious eyebrow?
According to the report, the most important 2026 career skill
is none of your usual suspects like communication, leadership, problem-solving, strategic thinking or technical know-how.
It’s something else entirely:
Adaptability.
This makes a lot of sense to me. Covid didn’t just change how we work. It changed what work is and what it’s for. Career paths are clearly becoming more squiggly too. And companies seem to be restructuring their businesses and laying off staff faster than you can say “you’re fired”.
In fact, I think adaptability will become even more important over the next few years.
If & when more roles get redesigned around AI, if & when companies start using temporary org charts and if & when managers get measured on how THEY help their teams adapt, we’re likely to see a world of work where career certainty is impossible, where fixed roles
go the way of the dodo and where the workers who adapt the fastest are the ones who pull ahead.
Which means adaptability could even become the whole shebang. It could be the key skill that separates those who shape their careers from those who have their careers shaped for them.
So back to the original question and how to be more adaptable at work:
Well, trying to be more adaptable isn’t the way to be more adaptable, just like trying to be more spontaneous isn’t the way to be more spontaneous.
To me, adaptability doesn’t look like a skill anyone needs to develop.
It looks like what’s left when we stop trying so hard to adapt.
One of
Baby Grundy’s favourite toys is a purple plastic spoke with ridges. It comes with six wheels. When she places a wheel onto the spoke, it spins to the bottom. But if you try to push a wheel down the spoke, the wheel stops spinning. The friction between the grooves locks the wheel in place.
Career adaptability works exactly the same way.
Pushing harder is just a recipe to become more rigid. Instead, letting go of our plans, ideas, assumptions, certainties and beliefs is how we become more adaptable.
It’s yet another feather in the cap for the Subtraction Method.
If there are elements of your career you'd like to adapt to better and you’re interested in 1:1 support, here's your next stop:
https://waitinglist.followingfulfilment.com
To fulfilment,
Tom