Most teams are already using AI to save time and boost productivity – and that’s a good place to start. The bigger opportunity now is to step back and ask whether to do the work itself differently. Don’t just use AI to improve an old way of working; use this opportunity to ask what you could eliminate, redesign, or replace altogether.
As a leader, are you just using AI for efficiency and productivity gains, or are you taking it to the next level?
My local library has just reopened after a few weeks closed for major refurbishments. We now have new carpets, new furniture, new bookshelves, and everything looks nice and new.
While they were closed, they also took the opportunity to reorganise the fiction books on the shelves. Instead of the traditional system, where fiction books are grouped alphabetically by author, they are now grouped by genre: mystery books one one shelf, thrillers on another, historical romance on another, and so on.
That’s a great idea. For example, If I’m looking for a new mystery author, I can browse the books in that section.
When I spoke to the librarian about this before it happened, she said most people were looking forward to it, but a few people grumbled. She pointed out to them that bookshops already organise their fiction that way, and libraries do it already for non-fiction books.
She also said:
‘In five years’ time, we’ll look back and say, “Why did it take us so long?”’
I reckon the same applies to AI.
Many organisations, leaders, and teams are using AI now to make their processes more efficient and more productive. That’s good, but don’t stop at that point.
To take it to the next level, ask if you could redesign, change, or eliminate the process altogether.
Don’t just mindlessly apply AI to your current processes without also asking whether those processes should exist in their current form at all.
So many things we do aren’t relevant anymore. We hang on to them because we’ve always done them that way. But, like keeping books in alphabetical order when there’s a better alternative, we should re-evaluate them. In fact, we could have done this a long time ago. Use the AI opportunity as the trigger to think again.
What could YOU do now that would let you say:
‘In five years’ time, we’ll look back and say, “Why did it take us so long?”’
For more about taking AI to the next level, join my next free public online presentation, which is for leaders and teams everywhere. It’s free, and you’re welcome to invite others from your team and network as well.
