The Myth of “Unmeasurable” Soft Skills and How Organizations Can Fix It

Soft skills do not resist measurement. They resist vague language. When an organization says it wants “better communication” or “more adaptability,” it has not defined a target. Without a target, any attempt at measurement becomes guesswork. People end up scoring personality, confidence, or similarity to the rater rather than capability. The resulting data looks subjective because it is subjective. That pattern teaches leaders the wrong lesson: “we tried, and it did not work.”