I haven’t had many conversations about AI just lately. Well, I have, but they haven’t been showing up as that specifically.
Sometimes, it’s been a chat about ‘new technology’ in general but quickly veers into territory about team sizes that might be needed in a couple of years. Or, it’s been a conversation about capabilities needed to manage teams that will be implementing more tech, or restructures as a result of new tech (=AI) being introduced. In all these discussions, there has been an undercurrent of, “I’m not entirely sure about this.”
Image: Brett Jordan, unsplash
Uncertainty rarely shows up labelled as that. It sounds like the decision that’s kicked down the road, “until we’ve got more data and budget.” Or it can be a tighter grip on the small things (that feel controllable). And, people can be a little snippier than usual.
Research from UCL helps to explain this. Their findings showed that a 50/50 chance of something unpleasant is more stressful than knowing for certain it’s coming. Not knowing is the hard bit so it makes sense that we grab at anything (like the small, controllable things) that can make that ‘not knowing’ stop.
This isn’t a new thing. I can remember back in the 80s when we had computers arriving on our desks, recession, industrial discontent and the Cold War bubbling along in the background. Leaders then didn’t have the answers either.
But what I think is different now is the sheer volume of things stacking up – geopolitical instability, climate, cost of living pressures – and it feels like they’re all arriving at once after a run of relative predictability for most of us. The uncertainty muscle that helps us with that feeling of not-knowing hasn’t been flexed in a while. So, we’re out of practice but not out of our depth.
This leaves leaders in a bit of an unusual spot. They’re still expected to be the one holding it all together while they’re feeling that uncertainty too. Gallup’s latest global data shows that manager engagement has dropped by nine points since 2022, while their teams’ engagement hasn’t really shifted at all. The folk we expect to keep things steady are now wobbling too.
One of the things I often come back to in conversations about change, is the ‘People Readiness’ aspect of my Four Fundamentals of Human Change. Part of it is about accepting that we don’t know everything. The leaders I see handling this well will say, “I don’t know yet, but I’ll let you know as soon as I do”, making it clearer to others what’s solid and what isn’t.
They also keep the ordinary things going – like regular team meetings. And they seem to be learning as they go, staying ready for the next wave rather than bracing for one big change.
So, what would change if you admitted (even just to yourself) that you’re not used to this either?