Foster adaptability, curiosity, and experimentation

- As a leader, you'll need to foster an environment that empowers employees to move from fear of AI to curiosity, creativity, and experimentation. Doing so will help them adapt as work is transformed and imagine future possibilities and spaces for themselves in the future. Curiosity is the desire to learn, explore, and understand. It's also about asking questions, exploring the unknown, and being eager to discover AI and its role in transforming work and what it means to them. What I love about intellectual curiosity is that asking questions like why, what if, when, and how leads to a path of creativity, enabling the generation of new ideas and potential solutions and experiences with experimentation for employees to leverage in their development and in carving out a path for the future. Let's go deeper by using the example of Brandon, a marketing employee, to demonstrate the interconnected journey from curiosity to creativity and experimentation. Brandon is aware of the rapid advancements of AI and is curious about its impact on the marketing space. Through the coaching and guidance of his leader, Brandon starts by seeking knowledge and exploring the basics of AI, asking critical questions and beginning to keep up with the latest trends, shifts, and impacts of AI in the marketing space. That curiosity moves to creativity, where Brandon is fueled by this knowledge and inspired by how AI is transforming marketing. Brandon begins to think creatively about how AI can be integrated into the organization, his current role, and the roles of the future. He is actively engaging with his manager in developing a plan that positions him to add value by helping solve some of the department's biggest customer challenges and a development plan for how Brandon can begin preparing and pivoting for the impact of AI. Next, Brandon moves to the experimentation phase where with the approval of management and clear guardrails, he can lead a pilot project to integrate gen AI tools into a specific marketing campaign. He will analyze the results, gather feedback, tweak the integration, document outcomes and insights, and share lessons learned from the project with the department and broader organization. This process not only added significant value to the department, but also enhanced Brandon's skills, showcased his capability to innovate, and positioned him as a valuable, innovative, and adaptable employee, capable of transitioning into future roles as the organization moves through wider AI adoption. You too can coach and guide your employees through curiosity, creativity, and experimentation so that they can prepare to find their place in the AI driven future of work. I have a few recommendations. Start by modeling the curiosity, creativity, and experimentation you desire to see in them. Provide continuous learning opportunities to build AI fluency as a foundation for sparking curiosity. Create a safe environment for them to be curious, ask questions, take risks, and experience failure in discovering how AI will transform business, work, and their career trajectory. Encourage them to follow their curiosity and be open to where it leads them. Quick story. I spent the first half of my career in media and there is nothing in my past that would suggest that I would leave media and become a work futurist. I read a book about the future of work, and that curiosity sparked a level of experimentation that completely changed the trajectory of my life and career. Finally, where appropriate with guardrails, provide access to gen AI tools and platforms for employees to experiment with and create use cases. Using these tips, you'll be able to amplify curiosity, creativity, and experimentation with your employees. In the next video, we'll take a look at how you can foster upskilling, AI-human collaboration, and continuous learning to keep your employees focused on their future forward career plans.