“Storytelling? The talent industry needs data, not narratives.”

I hear this a lot when talking about Careerspan's approach to career development. Industry experts want skills taxonomies, concrete tools, science-backed competency mapping. They're skeptical of anything that sounds too fluffy or narrative-focused.

As someone who squealed to find a new white paper on skill predictions for 2025 and who gets really excited to talk about the possibilities of AI/VR skill simulation tasks, I get it. 

The science of skills and advances in assessment is fascinating and valuable. 

But here's what I've learned from countless conversations with job seekers - and even my own work: there's a massive gap between how experts categorize skills and how real people talk about their work.

The Missing Link: Skills in Context

I would certainly struggle to parse which specific competencies I'm employing on any given day. 

That's because skills don't exist in isolation – they come alive through context and application.

Telling a story about your skills forces you to break down their application, and it allows the listener to experience your capabilities, not just hear about them.

Think about language for a moment. Linguists can break down the intricate structures of grammar and syntax – and that research is crucial for developing things like AI language models. 

But in our daily lives? We just need to communicate in a way that both speaker and listener understand. When you're sitting in an interview trying to convince someone you can do the job? You need a story that resonates.

The Science Behind Story

This isn't just intuition – it's backed by neuroscience. When you hear a dry list of skills or facts, only two areas of your brain light up: the language processing parts. But when you hear a story? Your brain explodes with activity.

A narrative triggers the sensory cortex, motor cortex, and even causes your brain to release oxytocin – the same neurochemical responsible for empathy and trust-building. Research from Princeton University found that when someone tells a story, the neural patterns in the listener's brain begin to mirror those of the storyteller. Scientists call this "neural coupling." 

In other words, good storytelling creates literal brain-to-brain synchronization.

P.S. Want to nerd out on this? My recommendations: Jerome Bruner (obvs), Robert McKee, Matthew Dicks, and Antonio Damasio. Credit to Marshall Ganz’s Public Narrative class for a lot of these. 

The Future of Work is Still Human

There are some cool advances in soft skill assessment, so measuring skills isn’t even limited to hard skill testing now (and really, how relevant are those anymore when I just created a React component for our site using Claude?) 

A lot of people argue that we should focus on those measurable skills, or invest more in simulations so we can see skills in action.

I am all for measuring skills. Simulations are valuable. I think there are a million flaws in our current hiring practices, and they need to be fixed.

But I'd argue that as automation increases, our ability to tell compelling stories - about ourselves and the problems we have solved - becomes even more crucial.

Think about it: as AI systems automate more of our workflows, our uniquely human ability to imagine and articulate what success looks like becomes even more valuable.

Breaking down complex processes into clear steps, envisioning desired outcomes, and communicating these visions to both teams and AI tools – these all require strong storytelling skills. The more we delegate execution to automation, the more crucial it becomes that we can tell clear, compelling stories about what we're trying to achieve and why it matters.

The Real Investment

When you invest time in developing your career narrative, you're not just working on "soft skills." You're literally crafting neural pathways in other people's brains. In a world increasingly filtered by AI and automated systems, the ability to create genuine human connection through story isn't just valuable – it's essential.

This is why I see Careerspan as essential to the future of work. We're focused on solving the "last mile" problem of skills development – because gaining a skill is only half the journey. The crucial other half is effectively communicating its value and applicability to whatever problem someone is trying to solve. You can master every skill in the latest frameworks, but if you can't tell the story of how those skills create value in specific contexts, you're missing a critical piece of the puzzle.

So yes, I'll keep reading those white papers and getting excited about advances in skills assessment.

But I'll also keep advocating for storytelling as the bridge between technical frameworks and human understanding. Because at the end of the day, it's not just about having the skills – it's about helping others understand how you use them to create value.

Want to geek out about skills with me? Reach out! Logan@mycareerspan.com