Work in 2026 can feel like it’s happening to you. Here’s how to take back some control.
Let’s be honest: 2025 was a lot.
AI is everywhere, cost-of-living pressure is real, and “change” feels like a permanent setting. Some days it can feel like your job is one restructure, one new tool, or one budget cut away from disappearing.
If you’re feeling that, you're not weak. You’re paying attention.
But here’s the shift that matters: work isn’t only something you survive. It’s something you can shape, much more than you think. Even if you’re not "senior”. Even if you’re not “technical”. Even if you don’t have a fancy title.
Flourishing at work isn’t about pretending everything is fine. It’s about building the conditions where you can do good work, keep learning, and have a say in how things run.
Three fears I hear everywhere (and what’s true)
Fear 1: “AI will make me redundant.” Some tasks will disappear. That part is real. But whole jobs usually change in pieces. The opportunity is to become the person who can work with the tools and improve the way work gets done.
Fear 2: “I’m going to be left behind.” You don’t need to become a coder overnight. You need to become a confident learner: someone who can pick up new workflows, ask good questions, and adapt without losing your dignity.
Fear 3: “I have no influence here.” You might not control budgets or restructures, but you do influence systems: how information flows, how your team works, what gets improved, and what behaviour becomes normal.
Small actions, repeated, change culture faster than slogans do.
Gaining agency: practical steps you can take immediately
These are designed for real life: busy weeks, messy workplaces, and mixed managers.
Make two lists:
Tasks that are repeatable and predictable (the kind AI/automation might help with)
Tasks that need judgement, context, relationships, or care (the kind humans do best)
Then ask: “How can I reduce the first list and grow the second?” Example: if you write routine reports, use tools to draft the structure then you add insight, interpretation, and recommendations.
2) Become the person who improves the workflow (not just does it)
Pick one friction point: a template, a handover, a meeting that wastes time, a double-entry process. Propose one small fix.
Example small action: “Can we trial a 10-minute stand-up twice a week instead of this 60-minute status meeting?”
This is agency: shaping how work happens.
3) Build “learning credibility” in public
Don’t learn in silence. Share what you’re learning in small ways:
“I tried X and here’s what worked”
“I found a faster way to do this step”
“This tool is helpful, but here’s where it fails”
It signals adaptability and helps others. In 2026, being a visible learner is career insurance.
4) Strengthen your relationship network (inside and outside your team)
In uncertain times, networks are stability.
Aim for one new or renewed connection a fortnight: a coffee chat, a quick Teams call, a site visit, a customer shadow.
Ask:
“What’s changing in your area?”
“Where are you stuck?”
“What skills are becoming more important?”
This expands your options before you need them.
5) Ask for clarity and decision rights (politely, consistently)
A huge cause of stress is unclear expectations.
Try: “What does ‘good’ look like for this by Friday?” Or: “Which parts of this do I decide, and which parts do you want to approve?”
This protects your time and improves outcomes. It’s also a quiet way of improving psychological safety: making it normal to ask.
6) Make wellbeing practical: protect one boundary that gives you energy back
You can’t flourish if you’re running on fumes.
Choose one small boundary:
no-meeting block for deep work
no messages after a certain time (or a clear response window)
take breaks as non-negotiable
rotate on-call load fairly
speak up early when workload becomes unsafe
This isn’t selfish. It’s sustainable performance.
7) Influence culture through micro-behaviours
Culture isn’t posters. It’s what people do when nobody’s watching.
Pick one behaviour to model:
giving credit
asking quieter people for input
raising risks early without blame
refusing gossip
thanking someone for flagging a problem
Example: “Appreciate you calling that out early. Let’s solve it together.” That one line can change the temperature of a team.
If you’re worried about redundancy, here’s a realistic plan
You don’t need panic. You need a pathway.
Identify one adjacent skill that’s growing in your industry (customer problem-solving, data literacy, project coordination, AI-assisted workflow, compliance, safety, stakeholder management)
Spend 30 minutes a week building it
Ask your manager for one stretch task that uses it
Document outcomes so you can show your value clearly
This is how you move from fear to agency.
What to do next (this week)
Choose one step above and commit to it for 14 days. Not seven steps. One. Make it small enough you’ll actually do it.
What one change are you going to trial in your work next fortnight, a boundary, a workflow fix, or a learning habit.
Katy Cooper is an experienced Futurist, trained through The Institute for the Future, POLI-Design at Milan POLI.technic and Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies. She has also studied Disruptive Innovation with INSEAD. She holds a Graduate Diploma of Management (GradDipMgt) from Australian Institute of Business. Katy is an exceptional Experience Designer and Facilitator. She helps organisations and communities build strategic plans and leadership capability for a future they can’t see yet through her foresight-driven, whole systems design practice.