Culture & Leadership models of Industrial Revolution won’t work in the AI Revolution

The culture and leadership model needed to create an emotionally positive work environment are very different than the prevalent cultures and models resulting from the Industrial Revolution. Command and control leadership, Theory X leadership beliefs as defined by Douglas McGregor and cultures of fear will not enable the work environment needed in the AI Revolution. The attitudes and behaviors of arrogant, elitist, all-knowing hierarchical leaders will not optimize higher-order human thinking, creativity or emotional engagement. The AI Revolution will require many businesses to confront this reality …

… From a human resource perspective, the mission will change from managing resources to developing people. The human capabilities needed to complement technology in the AI Revolution do not come naturally to us. It is hard to think critically and innovatively. It is hard to manage our emotions and engage non-defensively in frank collaborations. All employees will need individualized, personal developmental coaching (not training) to help them become better thinkers, listeners, collaborators and learners.* In most cases, such coaching will focus on developing emotional and social intelligence, mindfulness, authenticity, humility, empathy, and the managing of one’s fears, ego and emotional defensiveness. For many of us, that is a daily journey not a one-time training intervention.

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Source: Forbes, Jan. 12, 2015
Article: The AI Revolution will Humanize Businesses
by Professor Ed Hess, author of Learn or Die: Using Science to Build a Leading-Edge Learning Organization (2014)

P.L. – Oh, the irony. As the AI Revolution displaces many human workers, it will force humanistic changes upon most businesses. We’ve needed to do that for a long time. (I wrote a book about it a decade ago.) Whatever it takes to let go of machine thinking. This will be strategically necessary for humans to thrive. (*I should mention here that I have already designed a technology that provides “individualized, personal development coaching.” Tested, validated, deployed, since 2005. Just saying …)

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