---
id: "quote-skill-devaluation"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["§ The Risks and Rewards Are Real", "¶10"]
tags: ["skill-commoditization", "ai-impact"]
related: ["contrarian-skills-based-obsolescence", "concept-organizational-readiness"]
speaker: "Sangeet Paul Choudary and John Winsor"
speakers: ["Sangeet Paul Choudary", "John Winsor"]
sources: ["tail1"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-tail1"
originDay: 1
articleStem: "hbr-tail-112-continually-assessing-performance"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/06/the-pros-and-cons-of-continually-assessing-performance"
sourceTitle: "The Pros and Cons of Continually Assessing Performance"
---
# Authors on the Rapid Devaluation of Skills

> "A skill that once held its value for years can now be devalued in a single product cycle if a competitor learns faster, or if the provider of an AI tool absorbs that skill and commoditizes it."

— **[[entity-sangeet-paul-choudary]]** and **[[entity-john-winsor]]**

This quote is the compression of the entire obsolescence argument: because value can evaporate in *one product cycle*, a static skills catalogue cannot be the basis for organizing work. It is the direct support for [[contrarian-skills-based-obsolescence]] and the motivation for [[concept-organizational-readiness]].