Paolo, fluidity and trust in employees sound great, but how do we protect critical know-how and personalized training while keeping a competitive edge?

When I say that embracing fluidity, job-sharing, and trusting employees more won't cause businesses to lose their competitive edge or critical know-how, it's because the fear of losing expertise or shared knowledge is based on an outdated mindset. People think that if you allow for more freedom or flexible work models, you’ll somehow lose control over the very knowledge that keeps the business competitive. But the opposite is true—knowledge isn’t lost by sharing it, it actually grows.

You see, the traditional way of thinking views knowledge as something that needs to be tightly controlled, as if having only a few people possess critical information makes the business more secure. But what happens when those key people leave, or when one department is overwhelmed? The business becomes fragile. Fluidity, on the other hand, spreads that knowledge across more people. By giving employees more autonomy, more flexibility to share roles or rotate through different parts of the business, you make the company more resilient, because knowledge isn’t locked into a few select individuals—it becomes part of the collective intelligence of the entire team.

Instead of thinking that fluid work models dilute expertise, think about how they can actually enhance it. By moving employees around, you give more people the chance to learn different aspects of the business. It’s real-world learning, not theoretical, and that’s where the magic happens. You’re not weakening your competitive edge; you’re strengthening it by making sure more people understand different parts of the operation. If someone leaves, their know-how doesn’t walk out the door with them—it’s already embedded in the team.

And training? I get that worry. In the old model, training is this top-down, structured process where a few people pass down knowledge to others in a controlled way. But in a more fluid system, training becomes collaborative. It’s no longer about one person teaching everyone; it’s about everyone learning from each other, constantly, in real time. That might sound chaotic, but it’s actually incredibly effective. People become active participants in their learning, and because they’re trusted to take charge of their development, they do it with more energy and engagement. It's not just about learning the process—it's about understanding the bigger picture, contributing ideas, and adapting quickly to new challenges.

There’s also this idea that we’ll lose knowledge if employees aren’t always in the same place at the same time, sharing information through osmosis. But we live in a digital world where knowledge can be captured and shared through technology more easily than ever. With cloud-based tools, collaborative platforms, and knowledge-sharing systems, there’s no excuse for critical information to disappear. In fact, a fluid model, where employees come and go more freely or share roles, creates more opportunities for knowledge to be documented, distributed, and updated constantly. You’re building a living knowledge base that evolves as your business evolves.

Now, I get that some people worry that fluidity leads to inconsistency or subjective training, where no one is on the same page. But the truth is, it doesn’t have to be like that. When done right, fluidity is about personalized learning—people get the training they need for their specific role or goals, but they also learn how to think critically and adapt. They’re not just memorizing processes; they’re learning how to apply their skills in different contexts, which actually makes them more versatile, not less. It’s not about losing control of the training process, but about making it more dynamic, more responsive to the real needs of both the business and the individual.

What’s really interesting is how much ownership and innovation can come out of giving employees more freedom. When people have control over their work, their schedules, and their learning, they naturally become more invested in the company’s success. They stop thinking of themselves as just task-doers and start seeing how they can contribute to the bigger picture. This sense of ownership makes them more likely to innovate, to find better ways of doing things, because they’re personally connected to the outcomes. They don’t need to be micro-managed—they thrive in an environment where they’re trusted to take charge.

So, no, embracing fluidity and giving employees more freedom won’t lead to a loss of competitive edge or vital knowledge. In fact, it creates a more adaptive, resilient, and innovative workforce. When knowledge is shared and spread across the team, it doesn’t disappear—it grows. The key to staying competitive in the future is not about hoarding information but about sharing it, spreading it, and letting it evolve as the business evolves. Far from being a threat, fluidity is the very thing that will help companies unlock their true potential and stay ahead.