Nobody likes to fail. Yet most people, and most companies, claim they value learning. There’s your problem right there. Real learning comes from trying things with high uncertainty. And high uncertainty means frequent failure. You can’t have one without the other.
Executives keep asking me the same question: if we automate away the boring work, will our people lose their creative edge? I understand the concern. A recent Wall Street Journal article captured it perfectly, arguing that delegating mundane tasks to AI eliminates the very boredom that sparks creativity. Fewer dull moments means fewer breakthroughs.
AI is impressive. It’s fast, tireless, and increasingly capable. But we’ve gotten sloppy about what it can’t do, and what humans are quietly abandoning.
Most businesses don’t fail to produce great work because of a lack of talent. They fail because mediocrity is easier to sell. The dominant incentives reward speed over substance, sameness over judgment, efficiency over excellence.
A friend called me a few days ago to tell me she had finally quit her job. She’d been miserable for years. She couldn’t stand her boss. She couldn’t stand the environment.
One significant limit to AI adoption is human imagination. That’s what everyone says, anyway. But let me tell you what’s really happening: business leaders aren’t waiting for inspiration. They’re waiting for permission.
I’ve watched companies waste millions on innovation initiatives that produce nothing. Not because they lack creativity or resources, but because they’re asking optimization questions disguised as innovation questions.
