Last week’s dinner in NYC was a powerful reminder of why we do this work.
We kicked off the evening by asking everyone to introduce themselves as humans, not by job title. This wasn’t just an icebreaker. It was personal. Skill Collective was born out of a redundancy, and I remember how disorienting it was to feel like I’d lost my identity overnight. We often default to introducing ourselves by what we do professionally, as if our role is who we are. But the truth is, we’re so much more than that. We’re parents, friends, mentors. We’re defined by our values, our character, our passions, not our LinkedIn headline.
That framing set the tone for the evening.
To introduce the theme, I shared the story of a neighbour who discovered pools of water mysteriously forming downstairs in their brand-new home. At first, they assumed a leaky pipe or rising damp. But after months of confusion, the root cause emerged: the builders had forgotten to install the waterproof membrane on top of the foundations. The only fix? Demolish the house, lay the membrane, and rebuild from the ground up.
It’s a true story, but also a powerful metaphor for many organisations we work with. They’ve built beautiful architectures: HR systems, org charts, new operating models. But without foundational alignment around skills, data, and purpose, the cracks start to show. The systems look solid on the surface, but they’re leaking impact.