Proponents of the idea of generic skills, such as problem solving, regard them as being ‘context/domain independent’. On the contrary, it has been argued that “the ability to solve any given problem, above and beyond the most simple, relies on expertise and specialist bodies of knowledge” (Keep and Payne, 2004: 58). Finally, the widespread adoption in policy circles and by industry of the concept of generic skills may have the unintended adverse consequence of undermining workforce innovation capacity.