This week I had a fascinating conversation with a stats man who I reckon would give Pythagoras a run for his money. His enthusiasm for AI was off the charts—charts he probably calculated himself! He shared how most teams he works with are thrilled about AI’s ability to streamline processes, spark creativity, and boost productivity. Yet I couldn’t help myself. When people tell me about workplace change, my whacky schema brain kicks in. So, I had to ask: “Have you had much resistance to your AI programs, particularly from risk-averse types or, shall we say, ‘mature’ team members who might feel overwhelmed by the genius of AI?” “Quite a bit, actually,” he confirmed without hesitation. He told me how some staff—including those in leadership—felt uneasy. It wasn’t just the usual “a robot’s taking my job” type stuff, but also about learning something new from scratch. Overshadowing all of that? The simmering big ‘C’—Change. This was a roadblock ‘stats man’ hadn’t anticipated because it had nothing to do with the obvious value of his product.
|