Leading in Uncertain Times with Marianne Bachynski

It is indeed an exciting time to be alive. I’m not talking about AI, but OTAs, or Organized Team Activities in the National Football League. Non-contact football practices have just commenced. Our hometown heroes the New England Patriots are coming off a very successful season, which unfortunately ended in the Patriots getting shellacked by the Seattle Seahawks (so much so I stopped watching the game).  If Patriots fans thought that was the low point of this year, recent stories around the head coach Mike Vrabel’s personal activities (shall we say) have raised questions around how successful this season is going to be. Being a leader can require a lot of focus to the task at hand. If you can’t focus, can you lead? Or, is there going to be a level of distraction interfering with the focus that is needed to succeed at that level.  It seems that the only story getting more press than the Mike Vrabel saga is the artificial intelligence saga. AI is impossible to escape in the press and in our lives. When I was at the FTT Fintech and Customer Alpha event, every session had some discussion about AI. In these discussions, it is interesting to hear the ever fluctuating claims about how essential AI is to a company’s success. There are stories about how it is vital to success, as well as stories about how it is going to contribute to failure. There is a lot of space in between those extremes to add further stories.  These discussions raise the question about what it means to “embrace technology.” There is a difference between a company embracing technology and becoming beholden to it. We are seeing many companies becoming beholden to AI. Some companies are becoming beholden by making the decision to turn their operations to AI, reducing headcount, and dealing with the aftermath if the expected returns have not materialized. Or, they are now seeing the price of tokens being significantly increased. Other companies, by comparison, are embracing technology by finding areas where its use fits and is appropriate. Adoption involves whether technology is seen as a tool or technology as a determinant.  It all comes down to leadership, and making strategic decisions in times of uncertainty.  This is why we have this week on Experience by Design Marianne Bachynski, Chief Information Officer, Author, Speaker, and Strategic Advisor. Marianne’s expertise lies in aligning IT Operations and Business Strategies to achieve organizational goals and foster sustainable growth. There perhaps is no better time to engage a conversation around strategic use of technology than now.  In our chat, Marianne suggests that AI can unlearn more quickly due to its objective nature and the ability to be retrained, but it lacks empathy and can have unchecked bias unless trained by humans. In other words, why we still need humans in the loop. We also discuss how new technology creates opportunities for experimentation and innovation, but only if we are not relying on it just to replicate what we’ve done in the past.  Marianne stresses that especially in times of rapid technological change, success comes down to people and how culture still matters. We have to hire curious people to begin with, and continue to engage them around the what and why of your decisions. People need to be shown that they still matter, and that we are all in this together.  This includes people at all levels of the organization. Marianne describes how her end of summer meeting with interns was her favorite meeting because of the unique perspectives and creative ideas that were shared. Marianne highlights the need for leaders to shift from micromanaging to influencing and coaching, while also fostering a sense of community and shared purpose. Marianne shares her hope that her book, Fit for Uncertainty, would help readers change their leadership approach and build coping skills for stress. Ultimately, Marianne shares that leaders of all kinds need to have the humility that allows them to say “I don’t know” and be open to learning from many different voices, which still includes human intelligence. Marianne Bachynski Website: https://mariannebachynski.com/ Marianne Bachynski on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-bachynski/ Fit for Uncertainty: Lead with Purpose, Adapt to Change: https://mariannebachynski.com/book/