The leaders who best cope with change in their environments do 3 things better than those who struggle to cope:
- Awareness – notice shifts early, like a canary in a coal mine.
- Tools – have many, not one trick.
- Feedback – write expectations, check results.
Awareness
In the old times of coal mining, miners took a canary bird with them down into the mines. This was not for the singing of the canary, it was to ensure they were aware early of any change in the oxygen levels in the mines. If the canary fell over, it was early indication that they should get out of the mine.
What are the canaries in your business and life? In health – an anual medical with blood test can identify symptoms early enough so that medicine can successfully help you. In business – noticing weakness in your future sales funnel can be an early warning that competition is changing, product is no longer meeting needs… this can allow you to make adjustments while you still have healthy cash flow and motivated people… not wait til you are confronting an urgent cash crunch.
Tools
“If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail,” Abraham Maslow.
A good workman brings a variety of tools to their jobs. A good leader has flexibility in their response once they are aware of change. A corporate leader has 4 categories of tool – communications, incentives, budget, hiring and firing. If you only use hiring and firing, you are limited in your response to change.
Feedback
Once a great leader chooses a course of action, they define what success should look like in a measurable way. They then keep track of data – both quantitative and qualitative – and are aware of their personal bias to find data that proves that they were right. Our intuition hates discovering that we were “wrong” – and will find any way of deluding ourselves and deflecting responsibility out to others. A good leader is aware of the dangers of their intuition and how to balance it with clear data.
How to cope with AI change?
AI change is just another flavour of change in general. It is affecting all industries and all levels. It is changing the expectations of customers, it is changing the nature of work.
There is an idea that I have learnt over my 52 years of life. Pay less attention to what people say they do, and pay great attention to what they actually do.
Don’t ask people how they use AI. Watch others use AI.
if you liked this post, you will also like Progress Requires Change and Checklist: Leading Change in Organisations.