How to be a master of change

17 Apr 2026

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This week we’re quoting…

Professor Jonathan Reichental (Founder at Human Future)

What Reichental said:

“Become a master of change. That's really the foundation."

The foundation of what?

We asked this question:

What mindset do leaders need to build today to navigate a world where technological change is accelerating?

And Reichental’s answer was all about embracing and working with that change, not against it.

It’s important to talk about this right now, because even (or maybe especially) in the tech industry itself, people are feeling a lot of anxiety. We’re getting stuck somewhere between a product roadmap that doesn’t quite make sense anymore, and a headline about AI doing something you thought would take a decade.

More and more people are worried that what they’re capable of, and what they know, might not be enough.

If you’re worried about whether you can keep up, Reichental’s perspective is comforting. He doesn’t pretend the pace will ease, but encourages us to step into it and move with it.

“You have to get comfortable with experimentation, with building bolder visions, and being willing to revisit and retool constantly. The pace of technology isn't slowing down, so you can't afford to lock in a strategy for five years and hope it holds.”

Lots of people in the current generation of tech professionals were taught to optimise for certainty; to pick a lane and build depth. But as the ground keeps shifting, the skill you need to develop is movement.

An advantage you can build

If you want to position yourself for the future, Reichental emphasised the value of proximity to what’s coming next.

“The second thing is surrounding yourself with people who are ahead of the curve. You need folks who understand emerging technology, not just the tech we have today.”

In practice, that might look like small, deliberate exposure:

The founder friend building a product you don’t fully understand yet.
The engineer experimenting in a space you haven’t touched.
The conversation that leaves you feeling slightly behind – but newly aware of what you don’t know.

And of course, attending LEAP will place you right in the heart of emerging tech.

Anxiety sometimes comes from distance – it’s harder to read the future if you’re not getting up close to it and learning about the latest developments firsthand. When you do get closer, it starts to take shape.

A mindset to cultivate

Third, Reichental said,

“... embrace the experimentation mindset. Run pilots. Test ideas. Fail small, learn fast. Don't wait for perfect information before moving.”

This is where careers diverge. There are the people who wait for clarity and stability before they try something out, and there are the people who start running small experiments early. A side project, a new tool, a different role; they step in before everything’s laid out and ready for them. We’re not talking about reckless leaps here; just enough movement to stay relevant.

Because the real risk now isn’t choosing the wrong path – it’s staying still long enough for the path to disappear beneath you.

Uncertainty will always exist

None of this removes the uncertainty, but it does allow you to experience uncertainty in a different way.

Instead of worrying whether your role is going to exist in five years, you start asking whether you’re building the ability to adapt when your role does, inevitably, change. And that gives you confidence – you might not be certain about the future, but you can trust that you’re capable of meeting it.

Maybe that’s what mastering change really means. Building your own capacity to stay steady; to lose balance and regain it again, as the world around you moves.