Principles for Managing AI-Related Change

Summary

The key values for effectively managing change are Clarity, Consistency, and Empathy. When it comes to any change, plans will only get you so far. When those run out, you have to rely on values and principles to guide you. If you can apply the simple principles listed below, you will have more success in not just integrating AI, but in any change.

By Tom Swanson Engagement Manager at Heinz Marketing

Let’s get straight to the point: there is no one-size-fits-all approach to integrating AI.  Part of this is because of regular change management rules (every change is different, etc.), but another part is just how nebulous the term “AI” is.  Somewhere in the past 6 months I lost sight of what the term actually means.

There are a million promises out there about AI changing the working world.  I have yet to see it.  I believe it will get there, but we don’t really know when that will happen.  Assuming it is soon, it behooves all of us to have some principles in place for dealing with the coming shift.

My philosophy on change management is one of principles (thanks Ray Dalio).  When plans cease to be useful, we must rely on principles to guide us.  Change management plans are extremely helpful to have, but it is impractical and foolish to believe they will be executed to the letter.  Eisenhower said it best: “Plans are useless, but planning is essential”.

One of the biggest parts of planning is knowing your principles and values.  That will be crucial when integrating AI.

Values

When I organize a change effort, I start with 3 core values.  They are:

CLARITY – how can we ensure that all stakeholders are clear on the change and what it means for them?

CONSISTENCY – how do we hold as much constant as possible to ease the transition?

EMPATHY – how do we do this while respecting the humanity and needs of the people?

There are other important values, but these 3 have the biggest impact on whether or not you are successful.  A failure in these values is the surest way to torpedo (or outright explode) a change effort.

AI presents some difficulties to these values.  Here’s how:

For clarity – AI promises so much, claims are a dime a dozen.  In the actual execution, however, it isn’t always clear how to use these tools or what value they really create.  It also isn’t clear how this changes the expectations on workers or even what the firm’s long-term plans are.

For consistency – Some teams are required to use them, others aren’t.  Communication is inconsistent when management hasn’t determined its own philosophy on how AI should be integrated.  This leads to rules being applied ad hoc.  Yikes.

For empathy – People are understandably nervous about AI.  It is a more threatening change, at least in theory.  How do you keep people equipped without them feeling replaced?  How do you make sure they don’t lose their way when it seems like the whole job is shifting around them?

Principles

For each of these, I have some guiding principles to help you plan the change.  Know that your plans will become irrelevant quickly, but the time spent thinking about your principles will not.

Clarity:

State things simply

1. • Many of the claims I see on AI are an exercise in linguistic mysticism. I hate it.  As a leader, you must be able to state your vision simply so that people can understand it.
   • Additionally, you need to be able to tell them what the expectations are on them and how those will be measured.

Set your long-term vision and tell people about it

1. • What are you trying to accomplish and why? If you want to rally people behind a change, any change, they need to know what the vision is.

Consistency:

 

Have regular, whole-team communication

1. • This is a simple one. Consistent communication is key to effective change, so whatever your comms plan is, just make sure to do it regularly.
   • When it comes to AI, you want to find ways for people to share their experiences, engage in some collective problem solving.

Iterate, don’t reboot

1. • With AI changing as much as it is, leaders tend to want to reboot efforts. This is a bad idea.  Rebooting damages trust and exhausts tolerance.  Don’t reboot your change efforts, instead find ways to iterate your processes.

Empathy:

 

Know what your team fears

• An obvious one here that still is important to note. You need to know how your team is viewing the coming change.  It might not be that they are afraid of AI taking their jobs, but they might be afraid of losing work they like doing.  Or worse, they might be afraid of how the expectations on them are changing.

Speak to their needs before they do

• There isn’t a better way to demonstrate understanding than to be able to state someone’s viewpoints in a way they will agree with. The same goes here.  You need to be able to show your team that you have heard them and understand their concerns.
• This takes some work. The fruit of it is a team that trusts the direction and you to make decisions on their behalf.  If they don’t need to worry about whether or not you “get it” then they can instead spend the time integrating the change.

Putting it together

Don’t skip planning.  It is a crucial step, and none of this was meant to replace it.  What you do need is an idea for how to know your own principles when it comes to both managing change and integrating AI.  Here is how I typically integrate these principles into planning:

Clarity – Needs to be done first

1. 1. What is our philosophy on AI?
   2. What is our vision for using AI tools?
   3. What are the benefits we hope to gain?
   4. Who is responsible for making these changes?
   5. What are the teams that will be affected?
   6. What are the expectations on the individuals in our company?

Consistency – Arguably the Most Important

1. 1. How will we communicate and hold these expectations?
   2. What are the rules around AI use that we will not bend on?
   3. What does governance of AI usage look like and how do we make decisions on it?
   4. When and how will we connect with our teams about how things are going?

Empathy – also arguably the most important

1. 1. What do we think will happen to company morale/culture?
   2. How will this affect people’s working lives?
   3. What are the teams talking about with respect to AI tools?
   4. What is the general sentiment at the company for AI tools?

Overall, this doesn’t look all that different from a non-AI change.  The trick is in the details, as it always is.  There is a lot of emotional baggage tied up in AI that can be difficult to deal with.

Hold those 3 values, rely on your principles, and be thoughtful in how you approach the change.

Finally, be ready for this effort to last a long, long time.  AI itself is constantly changing, so the management of that will not end for quite a while.  If you are clear on your values and principles, you won’t need to be rigidly holding on to your plan at all costs.

Relax, and adapt.

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