You should also find ways to reward originality. By the nature of business competition, processes are often set up to reward speed rather than creative thinking. While this may see immediate productivity gains, it could harm you in the long term.
A good example of this is Pixar. Pixar has a culture of creativity and innovative thinking, which means that its leadership insists on rewriting and re-storyboarding films until they work, regardless of the cost. Movies like Toy Story 2 and Inside Out were almost completely restructured mid-production. Pixar’s consistent creative success across decades proves that taking time to find creative ideas leads to long-term market recognition and gains.
Finally, make sure you establish guardrails around AI usage. CIO senior writer Grant Gross’ article, “AI could prove CIOs’ worst tech debt yet,” highlights how quickly AI projects can create more work when left unchecked. Take the time to look at where AI can make work more efficient vs where human reasoning is essential. Mapping processes for the highest revenue-generating teams and largest cost centers can give you great starting points for a targeted AI pilot program. Lastly, train staff on the need to validate any AI-generated insights before acting on it. If AI is your brainstorming partner, ask it to use layered abstraction to evaluate the initial ideas and look for feasible alternatives. If you’re building on an established idea, ask AI to use 1st, 2nd and 3rd order impact analysis to hone your idea into a more robust or holistic solution.