Small moments of reflection. Practical steps forward.
When expertise becomes part of who we are
There’s something satisfying about being good at what you do.
You develop a skill over years. People come to you because you know how to do something well. You become the person who can solve a particular problem, see what others miss, or make sense of something complicated.
And then a technology comes along that can do part of it in seconds.
What happens to that sense of accomplishment?
When the work changes, so does our sense of value
We often talk about AI in terms of the tasks it can take over. But our work is more than a collection of tasks.
It’s a significant part of our identity, where we build confidence, find meaning, and develop a sense of who we are.
When something we’ve worked hard to master becomes automated, the adjustment isn’t always about learning a new tool or following a different process. It can also mean rethinking what we bring to the table and who we are in terms of our contribution.
There’s an interesting tension here. AI may help someone become more productive while simultaneously making them feel less valuable.
In our Paired Readiness work, we call this Identity Tax: the often-overlooked cost of asking people to change how they work without recognizing how much of their identity is tied to what they already do well.
That doesn’t mean their expertise has lost its value. But it may take time to recognize how that expertise can contribute differently.
And that takes more than a training session.
Start with what matters to them
Think about someone on your team whose work is changing because of AI.
Instead of starting with what they need to learn, ask:
“What part of your work are you most proud of?”
Listen to what they tell you. It might reveal something worth protecting, building on, or finding a new place for as the work changes.
Because helping people move forward also means understanding what matters to them about where they’ve been.