What happens when technology evolves faster than our ability to adapt to it?
In a recent Fortune article, Sanger Research Lab member Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks, professor of management and organizations at Michigan Ross, explored the growing disconnect many professionals are experiencing as artificial intelligence rapidly reshapes the workplace. Sanchez-Burks describes this phenomenon as “Competence Vertigo” — the disorienting feeling of mastering a skill only to realize the landscape has already shifted again.
The article examines how AI is changing the relationship between effort, expertise, and confidence at work, arguing that many people aren’t falling behind because they lack ability, but because technology is evolving faster than individuals can realistically keep pace.