An Announcement, and What are Soft Skills?

In this episode, Paul sits down with Michele Volpi - author of The Career Remix: Build a Future That Fits You — Pivot. Grow. Thrive., to explore how professionals can reinvent themselves in an era of disruption. Together, they unpack what it takes to stay adaptable, purposeful, and fulfilled when careers no longer follow a single, linear path.They discuss the mindset shifts needed to thrive amid constant change, how to balance reinvention with stability, and why embracing experimentation may be the ultimate career advantage.Five Key Learnings:Your career is not a ladder—it’s a remix. Growth today means combining experiences, not just stacking promotions.The future belongs to those who can pivot with purpose, not panic.Adaptability, curiosity, and reflection are the foundations of long-term career resilience.Reinvention requires courage—letting go of outdated definitions of success.Leaders who model career fluidity create more human, future-ready organizations.About Michele Volpi: Michele Volpi is a global CEO with over 25 years of experience leading companies through transformation across Europe, Asia, and North America. In The Career Remix, he draws on his leadership journey to offer a roadmap for building a career defined by adaptability, curiosity, and courage—qualities essential to thriving in the new world of work.Resources mentioned in this episode:The Career Remix: Build a Future That Fits You — Pivot. Grow. Thrive. by Michele VolpiHumanity Working Article on Adaptive Career PlanningHumanity Working is produced and edited for BillionMinds by Matt Neal. If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe, rate, and share. To learn more about how BillionMinds helps employees build adaptability and resilience for the future of work, visit billionminds.com.Humanity Working is a podcast focused on helping individuals, teams and organizations maximize their potential based on human capabilities.For more information, and access to our weekly newsletter, visit us at humanityworking.net.

In this episode, Paul and Matt tackle what they call the “North Star” of durable skills—adaptability. They explore what it really means to adapt as the world changes daily, how it differs from resilience, and why it’s the single most important skill for staying relevant in work that refuses to stand still.Five Key Learnings:Adaptability is the ability to adjust as the world around you changes—it’s the North Star of durable skills.Resilience supports adaptability—it’s the ability to emotionally and intellectually cope with change.Work now changes daily, not decade by decade; adaptability drives hiring, retention, and promotion.Daily practice builds adaptability by strengthening underlying durable skills like readiness, organization, balance, motivation, and control.Embedding 10–15 minutes of daily skill practice is the simplest and most powerful way to become more adaptable over time.Resources mentioned in this episode.The 1% better idea - https://jamesclear.com/continuous-improvementHumanity Working is a podcast focused on helping individuals, teams and organizations maximize their potential based on human capabilities.For more information, and access to our weekly newsletter, visit us at humanityworking.net.

In this episode, Paul and Matt explore what readiness really means at work—and why it’s not the same as wellbeing or wellness. They unpack why traditional wellness programs often fail to resonate with everyone, introduce the idea of “focused energy,” and explain how daily practices can recharge your “brain battery” to stay effective in an unpredictable world.Five Key Learnings:Readiness is the ability to consistently bring focused energy to your work—not just feeling well, but being able to perform.Wellbeing and wellness matter, but they can feel exclusionary or irrelevant for many employees—readiness reframes the idea.Your energy naturally fluctuates; readiness means knowing your baseline and working within it.Thinking of your mind like a “brain battery” helps visualize how rest, movement, and social connection recharge your energy.A simple daily habit—like spending 10 minutes outside, without devices—can improve focus, energy, and even sleep.Humanity Working is a podcast focused on helping individuals, teams and organizations maximize their potential based on human capabilities.For more information, and access to our weekly newsletter, visit us at humanityworking.net.

Changes are coming to Humanity Working. In this episode, Paul and Matt share what’s next: a new format designed for the way we all actually listen and learn. Every Tuesday, we will be dropping "Quick Fixes"—short, focused episodes that tackle one idea at a time, from mentoring and networking to resilience and adaptability.Continue to look out for interviews as bonus episodes from time to time, but Quick Fixes will keep you learning in a fast, practical, and built-for-real-life format.Five Key Learnings:So-called soft skills—adaptability, resilience, empathy, communication—are anything but soft; they’re the core of effective, modern work.People use many labels for them: human skills, durable skills, power skills—each reflecting their long-term value.These skills are hard to categorize because they cross boundaries between personality, behavior, and capability.Unlike technical skills, they aren’t learned once; they develop through reflection, feedback, and deliberate daily practice.Quick Fix will explore these skills in short, actionable episodes to make building them a daily habit.Humanity Working is a podcast focused on helping individuals, teams and organizations maximize their potential based on human capabilities.For more information, and access to our weekly newsletter, visit us at humanityworking.net.

Mentoring is everywhere—but not all of it works. In this episode, Paul and Matt separate hype from reality, covering what actually drives value for mentees, mentors, and organizations. They also place mentoring in a broader context.Five Key Learnings:Mentoring demand is surging, but impact varies widely.Programs often fizzle when urgent tasks crowd out the important.Mentees can accelerate value by finding fit, keeping momentum, and using the relationship.Great mentors balance challenge with support—and know when to open their networks.Mentoring works best alongside other elements, not as a stand-alone fix.Resources mentioned in this episode:Does Mentoring Still Work? - https://www.humanityworking.net/p/does-mentoring-still-work?r=ourxzHumanity Working is a podcast focused on helping individuals, teams and organizations maximize their potential based on human capabilities.For more information, and access to our weekly newsletter, visit us at humanityworking.net.

Networking doesn’t have to mean awkward small talk or transactional card-swapping. Paul and Matt reframe networking as relationship-first, exploring how to create authentic connections, design better event formats, and balance depth with breadth in your network.Five Key Learnings:Intentional, authentic connections beat performative mingling.Even 30 minutes at an event can yield real relationships with the right design.Depth builds fastest through shared tasks, co-creation, or thoughtful questions.Formats like curated groups or co-making sessions outperform open-ended mixers.The best networks balance a few deep ties with many light ones—expansive, not transactional.Humanity Working is a podcast focused on helping individuals, teams and organizations maximize their potential based on human capabilities.For more information, and access to our weekly newsletter, visit us at humanityworking.net.

Go Slow to Go FastWe live in a culture that prizes speed—but sometimes moving slower is what actually accelerates results. In this episode, Paul and Matt explore when deliberate pauses pay off, how to test “slow-downs” safely, and how leaders can set the right cadence without losing urgency when it matters most.Five Key Learnings:Slowing down can reduce rework, surface hidden costs, and sharpen decisions.Smart slow-downs (like reflection or structured breaks) often boost creativity and clarity.Speed frequently degrades our decision making and causes us to miss opportunities to build on others workTeams can run tiny experiments—like slowing a sprint kickoff—to test the benefits.Mature leaders can help team members see how to balance slowing down and speeding upResources mentioned in this episode:Slow Down to Speed Up Newsletter - https://www.humanityworking.net/p/slow-down-to-speed-up?r=ourxz&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=falseHumanity Working is a podcast focused on helping individuals, teams and organizations maximize their potential based on human capabilities.For more information, and access to our weekly newsletter, visit us at humanityworking.net.

In this episode, Paul and Matt dig into the history—and the myths—around the Eisenhower Matrix. Was it really invented by Eisenhower? Did he even talk about this stuff? And how can a tool this simple be both game-changing and misleading at the same time? They explore how to apply it without over-engineering, how to spot when your team is maturing from reactive to proactive, and why “schedule” is the most powerful word in the framework.Five Key Learnings:Eisenhower never drew the Matrix—Stephen Covey popularized it in 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.The four quadrants (Do, Schedule, Delegate, Delete) are helpful, but taken too literally, they can cause confusion.The most valuable shift is from treating tasks as a list to treating them as priorities.Teams mature when urgent/important work shrinks over time—fires are preventable.“Schedule” is the magic quadrant: if it’s truly important, it must be time-blocked to actually happen.Resources mentioned in this episode:Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_7_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_PeoplePaul’s article describing the Eisenhower Matrix  - https://www.humanityworking.net/p/slow-down-to-speed-up?utm_source=publication-searchHumanity Working is a podcast focused on helping individuals, teams and organizations maximize their potential based on human capabilities.For more information, and access to our weekly newsletter, visit us at humanityworking.net.

Heavy ChatGPT use may help short-term tasks—but it can quietly weaken your brain. In this episode, Paul and Matt unpack a new MIT Media Lab study and explain how durable skills act like muscles: neglect them, and they atrophy. They close with a blueprint to keep yours sharp with a few minutes a day. Five Key Learnings: MIT study found weaker brain activity and “cognitive debt” after ChatGPT use. Overreliance on AI dulls critical thinking and originality. Durable skills—like communication and problem-solving—need reps. Daily practice (even 5–10 mins) keeps skills from rusting. T-shaped careers rely on both depth and breadth—neglecting either costs you.Resources mentioned in this episode: MIT Media Lab / Tech & Learning article on “Your Brain on ChatGPT”Humanity Working is a podcast focused on helping individuals, teams and organizations maximize their potential based on human capabilities.For more information, and access to our weekly newsletter, visit us at humanityworking.net.

If health underpins great work, why do so many workplaces treat it like a perk? In this episode, Paul and Matt examine the gap between surface-level wellness offerings and real employee needs—then share how to shift toward readiness and resilience without overhauling everything. Five Key Learnings: Lived experience (burnout, caregiving, fatigue) doesn’t match company messaging. Health is still treated as “individual responsibility,” not a team design issue. Small moves like RMS (Rest, Movement, Socializing) beat flashy programs. Teams can change norms—leaders just have to start modeling them. Expect the shift: from “treat it when it breaks” to “design for health.” Resources mentioned in this episode: Billion Minds Readiness ModelRMS Stack (Rest, Movement, Socializing)Humanity Working is a podcast focused on helping individuals, teams and organizations maximize their potential based on human capabilities.For more information, and access to our weekly newsletter, visit us at humanityworking.net.