Stay Curious, Stay Employed

In Part 1 and Part 2, we made the case that artificial intelligence (AI) will replace the jobs of people who don't adapt, and that generalists will thrive while specialists will find their narrow expertise no match for the bots.

In this final part, we're looking at what really keeps you in the game. Spoiler alert: it's not a flashy title or one standout skill. It's your ability to stay curious and never stop learning.

The skills that got you here won't get you there

That’s not just a catchy line. It’s the central idea behind Marshall Goldsmith’s bestseller, which argues that your strengths today might slow you down tomorrow.

The World Economic Forum agrees. They estimate that 39% of the average job's core skills will change by 2030. The corporate world isn’t clueless either: 85% of companies say upskilling is a top priority. But in reality, fewer than half of adults actually do any kind of formal training each year.

What's that gap made of? Time. Confidence. Maybe a little inertia. But increasingly, it's mindset. Too many people still think of learning as an event. They're waiting for a course or a seminar to solve their problems.

Learning as a reflex

People who stay ahead don’t wait for the calendar or their manager. They treat learning like a reflex, and follow this simple loop, often:

Spot the gap.
Learn just enough to close it.
Test it.
Teach it.

It’s not about ticking boxes or collecting certificates. It’s a self-driven loop that builds real skills as they are needed, which allows them to keep moving even as the work landscape keeps shifting.

T-shaped skillsets

Specialisation isn’t dead. Becoming really good at something means you'll still be the first person that people call when the stakes are high. That kind of depth is the anchor of your career.

But anchors don’t move. And in a world that does, that’s a problem.

Back in Part 2, we talked about range—the breadth of skill that makes generalists better suited to a world of work that refuses to stay in one lane.

The smartest shape isn't just deep or broad. It's both.

The concept of "T-shaped" professionals captures this balance: deep expertise in one area, plus a broad base of knowledge that helps you work across teams and disciplines.

The idea isn’t just theoretical. There’s a reason this shows up in boardrooms: A 2023 survey found that 70% of corporate leaders acknowledge a critical skills gap in their teams. But, when you stack depth and breadth, a few things happen:

You connect the dots. T-shaped professionals—such as a developer who can speak UX, or a marketer who understands data—serve as natural translators between teams.
You adapt faster. Teams and organizations face constant disruption. T-shaped professionals are the ones who lead change.
You spark new ideas. The value of a skill isn’t just this skill itself. It’s in the unexpected pairings it makes possible.

The research backs it up: T-shaped teams outperform narrow specialist groups, especially on big, messy projects that require complex problem-solving.

Learning is the only job security left

Everything else—job titles, platforms, industries—is temporary. The people who stay in the game are the ones who keep moving.

So stretch sideways. Pick up something new. Ask the obvious question. Try the thing you’re not yet ready for.

You don’t have to know everything, but you do have to keep learning something.

Here are a few places you could start:

Cultivate creativity and critical thinking. Take on problems that don't have one right answer. Analyse. Reflect. Build cognitive range. These are the most automation-resistant skills.
Learn adjacent fields. If you're a data analyst, learn design. If you're a designer, learn coding. If you're in operations, try storytelling. As TalentNeuron puts it, “employers value those who work across disciplines and teams.”
Stay curious. Play with new tools. Follow trends outside your field. Be the first to learn a new method—and the first to drop an obsolete one.
Build a cross-industry network. Join meetups. Talk to people from unrelated fields. Innovation rarely comes from deepening a trench—it comes from crossing it.
Exercise persistence. You won't be an expert at everything. But stay in motion. Over time, your pattern-recognition will sharpen—and your value will grow.

If you need a place to start, Critical Thinking Essentials is built for exactly this. It's a short, practical, and aimed at growing the skills AI can't touch—critical thinking, creativity, and the ability to switch contexts and connect ideas.

Because the winners in the next economy won’t be the ones who know the most. They’ll be the ones who learn the fastest.

If you found this post valuable, then check out our guide, Freelancing in an AI World. It’s a practical resource for freelancers figuring out work in the age of AI.

References

Dumitru, D., & Halpern, D. F. (2023). Critical Thinking: Creating Job-Proof skills for the future of work. Journal of Intelligence, 11(10), 194. https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence11100194

Goldsmith, M. (2010). What got you here won’t get you there: How successful people become even more successful. Profile Books.

Kobarg, S., Stumpf-Wollersheim, J., & Welpe, I. M. (2018). More is not always better: Effects of collaboration breadth and depth on radical and incremental innovation performance at the project level. Research Policy, 48(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2018.07.014

Lavri, O. (2025, March 1). 5 Interdisciplinary skills for Future-Ready workforces. TalentNeuron. https://www.talentneuron.com/blog/5-interdisciplinary-skills-for-future-ready-workforces

OECD. (2023). Education at a glance 2023: OECD indicators. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/e13bef63-en

Springboard. (2024, January 31). Workforce Skills Gap Trends 2024: Survey Report. https://www.springboard.com/blog/business/skills-gap-trends-2024 Stephany, F., & Teutloff, O. (2023). What is the price of a skill? The value of complementarity. Research Policy, 53(1), 104898. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2023.104898

The Ever-Fluctuating skill set, the College-to-Career transition, and the T-Student. (2023, May 10). Default. https://www.naceweb.org/career-development/best-practices/the-ever-fluctuating-skill-set-the-college-to-career-transition-and-the-t-student

Tran, R. (2024, March 12). Embracing the spectrum of expertise: the T-Shaped and V-Shaped employee models. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/embracing-spectrum-expertise-t-shaped-v-shaped-employee-roy-tran-ggcvc/

Wikipedia contributors. (2025, January 2). T-shaped skills. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-shaped_skills

World Economic Forum. (2025, January 7). The Future of Jobs Report 2025: 3. Skills outlook. https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2025/in-full/3-skills-outlook/

World Economic Forum. (2025, January 7). The Future of Jobs Report 2025: 4. Workforce strategies. https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2025/in-full/4-workforce-strategies