Reconciling the AI divide at work
Deeper alignment is needed now than with tools of the past.
What happens when part of your team sees AI as a superpower and another part sees it as an existential threat?
A new dimension of resistance
Getting our teams to use new tools has always been challenging. People tend to resist. But with the explosion of AI-powered tools, that resistance has evolved. It’s no longer just about learning curves. It’s about job security, ethics, and identity.
This makes the process of integrating AI a more complex one than with tools of the past.
With AI, there are a range of fears, anxieties, emotions, and values mixed up with the potential for leveraging the technology for increased effectiveness. How do navigate the process of realizing this potential in a way that creates deeper alignment and reconciles tensions?
Recognizing and developing attitudes toward AI
First, we can work to understand the different attitudes people have toward this technology. This will allow us to meet them where they are and work toward greater alignment.
Based on my experience, here are some archetypal personas that we need to be able to recognize and work with through this process:
1. The Transparent Enthusiast
Fully excited about leveraging AI in their current role, the Transparent Enthusiast is proactive in experimenting with new tools and sharing what they are doing and learning with the rest of the team. They are true believers in the narrative that AI will enhance human roles and show little concern for any potential threat.
2. The Dismissive Skeptic
Convinced AI is an over-hyped fad, the Dismissive Skeptic scoffs at those who are using it, seeing this as a sign of weakness or a lack of personal capability. They are quick to point to the flaws and limitations of current tools and may see themselves as irreplaceable experts.
3. The Adamant Justice Warrior
Focused on the ethics surrounding the current state of AI, the Adamant Justice Warrior frames the use of AI as unethical and something to resist. They are quick to point out, often fairly, the high energy costs and potential negative social impacts of the technology.
4. The Anxious Adopter
Struggling with the weight of uncertainty and complexity, the Anxious Adopter is slowly coming around to recognizing the need to learn these new tools. At the same time, they are fearful at the prospect of being replaced and are unsure of what to do about it.
5. The Disengaged Pessimist
Convinced we’ll all be collecting universal basic income on our couches soon, the Disengaged Pessimist may either be looking forward to or dreading an early retirement. Either way, they are not especially concerned with their current performance at work. They don’t think it matters much in the long run.
Exploring team dynamics around AI
While oversimplified, these archetypes can help you notice patterns—both in yourself and in your team.
As you reflect on your unique context, what patterns do you observe?
In reality, parts of these personas may show up for us in different ways and at different times. As individuals, we may feel enthusiastic one day and pessimistic another.
Part of us may feel anxious about the potential of having nothing valuable to offer in the future, while another part of us is excited by the potential for developing into more meaningful value-adding roles.
One thing is clear: this situation produces some highly complex team dynamics rife with creative tension.
How do we as leaders reconcile this tension as we navigate through this process of integrating AI into our ways of working?
The limits of top-down rollout
The traditional approach to rolling out new tools within a team or organization is top-down: leaders making decisions, often guided by “expert” consultants, then telling everyone else what they need to do and how.
Arguably, the tension produced by these conflicting attitudes and views around AI cannot by reconciled through such an approach of forceful adoption, for a couple of reasons:
1. Such an approach fails to address the complex underlying beliefs and emotions involved. Many individuals may have conflicting feelings or values that contribute to a toxic culture.
2. The rate at which the technology is advancing likely makes a top-down approach ineffective for many use cases. Bottom-up sense-making and experimentation is arguably needed to keep up with shifting needs and opportunities.
Pause for a moment to visualize the potential for your team to align around AI adoption in this way. What is required to make that happen?
One framework that may serve you here comes from my mentor, Carol Sanford, called Levels of Thought. This framework helps us to see what lies upstream from our strategies and tools—where a lack of alignment can cause serious issues in implementing any strategy we may come up with for integrating AI.
Creating deeper alignment
Reflecting through the lens of this framework, on what levels are you focused in your own thinking about integrating AI? In your team conversations around this goal?
What potential can you see for reconciling tension and moving forward by thinking together on a higher level?
A few questions for upgrading your thinking
What happens if we begin on the higher levels of thought then move downward? How might this help to create more coherence and purposeful direction in our process of integrating AI?
Let’s explore a specific line of questioning with this in mind. Consider working through these yourself:
What do I believe about AI and where it is going? Where are these current beliefs sourced from?
What is my personal philosophy around the right role of AI in the world? The right role of humanity?
What principles ground my thinking through this process of integrating AI?
What ideas, theories or concepts inform my thinking? Where do they come from?
What is my strategy for effectively integrating AI in our ways of working?
How will we do this? What does the process look like?
What tools are worth experimenting with?
How are we using these specific tools?
What is working well? What is challenging?
Our work as Developmental Leaders
The process of integrating AI requires more than simply making decisions about which tools to use.
Old, top-down approaches are likely to generate tension and create toxic workplace cultures.
We have to engage our teams in developmental dialogue that enables us to explore and align on deeper levels: reconciling conflicting beliefs, philosophies, values and attitudes.
We are facing a novel challenge. One that is pushing us to dig deeper and ask more fundamental questions.
We also have remember: the future depends on how we engage each other through the process of shaping it. It is not set in stone.
How is this an opportunity to move in the direction of more meaningful and engaging roles as we begin to integrate this powerful new technology into our ways of working?
What’s coming up for you? Share your thoughts below.
Want to dig in further? Check out A Brief Intro to Developmental Leadership.