Fastcompany iconFastcompanyAug 31, 2026 ~1 min source read

In the age of AI, how much work you do matters less than it used to. Here’s what matters more

The most important skills in today's workplace are judgment and discretion. Yes, results and impact have always been the flagship markers of success, but you could get pretty far in yesterday's world by producing a high volume of just-fine output.

In the age of AI, how much work you do matters less than it used to. Here’s what matters more

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Useful takeaways from this story.

The most important skills in today's workplace are judgment and discretion.

Yes, results and impact have always been the flagship markers of success, but you could get pretty far in yesterday's world by producing a high volume of just-fine output.

That's because output used to be expensive—you had to think and devote energy towards what you were creating.

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The useful part

The most important skills in today's workplace are judgment and discretion. Yes, results and impact have always been the flagship markers of success, but you could get pretty far in yesterday's world by producing a high volume of just-fine output. That's because output used to be expensive—you had to think and devote energy towards what you were creating.

How it works

  • Productivity at work used to be measured largely by output.
  • So because of that, most of us, to one degree or another, are hard-wired to believe that output equals good.
  • That shift creates a problem for companies like Amazon, JPMorgan, Meta, and Disney that are trying to drive AI adoption by deploying AI leader...

What to take from it

This is because the cost of output has never been cheaper.

Details worth keeping

Or at least productive, and productive equals good. It's probably more formally correct than most people can write.

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