After a keynote I delivered last week, one question stayed with me.
I asked the audience to think about the best professional they’d ever worked with.
The responses came quickly…
- Empathy
- Communication
- Trust
- Listening
- Curiosity
- Open to learning and adapting
- Asking good questions
- Emotional intelligence
- Relationships
What struck me wasn’t what people chose but what was missing from the list.
Nobody wrote “technical expertise.” Yet these were experienced financial professionals describing the people they trusted most, and the capabilities they believed created the greatest value.
Later in the session, I asked another question…
What capabilities help us create value?
Again, the answers centred on relationships, judgement, communication, leadership, adaptability and problem-solving. The very capabilities that help people navigate complexity and work well with others.
Yet the capabilities we admire most are often not the capabilities we prioritise developing.
And that disconnect might be one of the biggest capability gaps organisations are facing today.
We don’t have a capability gap because we don’t value capability. We have a capability gap because we haven’t been as intentional about building it as we’ve been about developing technical expertise.
So if these are the capabilities we believe create value for our clients, teams and businesses… Why do so many development plans still focus almost exclusively on technical expertise?
Expertise is the Baseline
I think deep down we know what creates value yet, for some reason, we’ve misunderstood what deserves our greatest investment.
Today, expertise is no longer the differentiator, it’s the price of entry.
Because technical expertise provides the foundation and human capability determines the value we create.
Knowledge is more accessible than it has ever been. Whether it’s AI, Google, podcasts or online learning, information is no longer scarce. What’s scarce are things like judgement, knowing what to do with the information when the trade-offs are real.
So, we have to rethink what makes us stand out.
Where Strategy Becomes Real
This is where I think many organisations have a capability gap.
Many organisations invest significant time defining strategy. But far fewer invest the same energy identifying the capability that strategy depends on.
You see, strategy tells us where we’re going but capability determines whether we’re able to get there.
A strategy can describe a compelling future, but it cannot implement itself. Because strategies don’t build businesses – people do. And progress depends on whether people have the capability to turn intention into everyday decisions, behaviours and actions.
Alongside asking what technical skills people need, we should also be asking:
“What capabilities will our people need to apply those skills in an increasingly complex world?”
And we need to start with the work the strategy requires.
Think about an organisation pursuing innovation.
A creative thinking workshop may generate ideas. But delivering innovation requires people to test those ideas, make decisions with incomplete information, collaborate across teams and learn when things don’t go to plan.
The strategy provides the destination, but capability determines whether the journey is possible.
Organisations build capability intentionally when they:
- hire for it
- develop it
- recognise and reward it
- design work that allows people to apply it.
Capability Doesn’t Live in One Person
Developing people is one part of building capability. People also need the capacity, tools and systems to apply what they know.
Brilliant people can be constrained by poor systems.
Highly capable leaders can be slowed by outdated processes.
Teams with enormous potential can be overwhelmed by competing priorities and unnecessary friction.
Over time, those conditions affect the quality of thinking, judgement and collaboration.
Building capability therefore includes creating an environment where people can consistently apply it.
Capability should also never be an appendix to the strategy, it should be part of the strategy.
Because every strategic ambition depends on people having the capability to deliver it.
If that capability doesn’t yet exist, the question isn’t whether the strategy is wrong.
It’s whether we’re prepared to deliberately build what the future requires.
We spend a lot of time talking about strategy, technology and performance.
And each depends on capability.
Strategy answers where we’re going and capability determines whether we’re able to get there.
Expertise may get you in the room, but your capability creates the value once you’re there.
And if capability creates value, building it can’t be left to chance. It must be intentional.
So, are you intentionally building the capability your future requires?
