Six Skills For 2026: 2. Creativity

AI can write. AI can design. AI can code. So what's left for you?

Creativity. But not the kind you're thinking of.

Most of us have quietly decided we're not creative. Not really. That's for the artists, the designers, the people who were born with it. The rest of us are the ones who colour inside the lines — and frankly, we're fine with that.

Except we're not fine. Because right now, at the exact moment creative thinking has become the single most valuable skill on the planet, 8 in 10 people believe it's critical to economic growth — and only 1 in 4 think they're actually living up to their own creative potential. That gap is enormous. And it's costing people.

In this episode, Phil and Pen make the case that everything you've been told about creativity is wrong. It has nothing to do with being artistic. It has nothing to do with a flash of genius or a lightbulb moment. It's about thinking differently — and that is something every single person listening to this can do. Today.

They walk you through:

• Reframe what creativity actually means — and why it has nothing to do with being artistic
• Understand the wait, stagnate or create choice — and why now is the moment to choose
• Use the Herman Brain Dominance model to discover where your creative thinking already lives 
• Turn anxiety into creativity — because misdirected creative energy is exactly what anxiety is
• Work in partnership with AI rather than fearing it, using six practical exercises to flex your creative muscle starting today

Because the world doesn't need you to wait for instructions anymore. You have three choices — wait, stagnate, or create. And there has never been a more important moment to choose creation. 

Listen to this episode and try this — take your job title, imagine an assistant handles everything routine, and rewrite your role with the word creative in mind. Just see where it takes you.