Hello Reader !

Autumn is here — one quarter to go! Soon, the discussion about the level of AI adoption in our teams. And in almost every leadership team, the same question comes back: “so, what are our AI use cases?”

I used to ask it too. Now I think this question is totally wrong.

Here is what you take away today:

• Where the word “use case” comes from, and what it hides
• The two questions to ask instead
• The exercise I run with teams before we talk about any tool

Before we begin, how can I help you?

• Before we begin, how can I assist you?
  • Coach you to build your team GenAI system: skills, mindset and AI/human organization here​​
  • Coach you and your team to design and pressure test your new strategy or product here​
  • Audit and improve your innovation, customer centricity, and ability to adapt to a complex and ever-evolving environment here​

Get comfortable for your 5 minutes of sparks to hack.

✨ Spark

✏ A word borrowed from software

“Use case” comes from software specification. One user, one task, one system. It was built to describe what a tool must do.

It was never built to describe how a human should work nor how a team should collaborate around a common goal.

So when your AI conversation starts with “what is our use case?”, it starts inside a task. And it stays there.

✏ What a task-size question hides

You have something to do, AI does it faster. Good.

Now look at what does not fit inside a task: the process around it. The decision points. The way people collaborate. The critical thinking. The skills your team will need next year.

None of it fits in a use case. So none of it gets discussed.

✏ The IT perspective is not wrong. It is not enough.

This is not about IT people. They deliver what we ask them, and in most cases I witness, they deliver it well.

It is about the framework, the language, the perspective.

If the AI conversation is driven only by the IT one, you stay in the box of the tool and the task. The box is comfortable. It is also small. And from inside, you cannot see the big picture.

You need that big picture, because the goal is not to add AI to your current workflow.

The goal is to redesign the work.

✨ Hack

So instead of “what is our AI use case?”, try: Where could AI augment our people? Where could AI redesign the work so we have more impact?

Different question, different room. Some organizations now run their AI rollout with HR, or with a fusion of HR and IT. Watch how the conversation changes when the owner changes.

✏ Bring other perspectives into the room

If HR is not supporting you yet, go to the people whose job is the system: change management, culture, organizational development, a team coach. They carry the frameworks your AI conversation is missing. Behavior. Skills. Ways of working (like our program here).

✏ Map the operating system of your team

Here is the exercise I run with teams, before we talk about any tool.

We map the operating system of the team: the key impact areas they own. Not the task list. Not the tool list. The impact.

What it changes: the conversation moves from “how do we use the tools?” to “how do we augment the team?”

Then, and only then, you add AI on top of the map. For this impact area, where could AI help? What role would it play: coach, expert, reviewer, sparring partner? That is your AI augmented map.

✏ Turn it into one question: how might we?

Write the output as a question your team can work on:

How might we use AI to [key outcome of your team]?

“How might we” comes from design thinking. It keeps the problem open, and it keeps the outcome visible.

I'm using it now in every single coaching session, and you see the shift happening, moving away from the tool and back to the team purpose. Try it!

That is it for today. I hope you like this edition. Let me know!

See you in two weeks. Keep the spark alive!

What's up with me?

I started writing a book(finally!!) about on "How to adapt to new technology", taking the example of Gen AI. It will provide a step-by-step method, using my frameworks, to help leaders save time and energy, ensuring a new technology scales their impact while protecting what matters most to them. Very exciting journey. More to come later!

Reader, hit reply to let me know if you liked this edition or if you tried these tips. I respond to every person who writes to me!