Human Skills

How can firms expand their knowledge scope without expanding managerial hierarchy? We propose that shared knowledge between managers and workers (vertical) and workers and workers (lateral) can serve as an infrastructure to reduce the need for managerial expansion as the firm scales.

This OpEd highlights new large-scale evidence that foundational skills-especially communication, teamwork, and other soft skills-are strongly linked to faster learning, higher earnings, and better long-term career mobility. Find the article in Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2025/08/soft-skills-matter-now-more-than-ever-according-to-new-research

The paper, published in Nature Human Behaviour, examines pathways of skill accumulation to build a structural explanation of valuable human capital. Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-024-02093-2