It is “AI”, but no, it is not Artificial Intelligence. Instead, it has been designed and evolved using what we’ve called “Authentic Intelligence”.
Recently I went for a long walk and talk with a client, who noted at one point how their role in their business has evolved to a simple one. They now simply meet new clients, assess what they need, and then they “feed it to the machine”, which then assesses how best to solve the client’s problems and, if they need to take a new approach, the “machine” is equipped to learn for itself based on past experience, abilities, skills.
What is this “machine” they have installed in their business, you may ask?
It is “AI”, but no, it is not “AI” as in Artificial Intelligence. Not at all. Instead, their business has been designed and evolved using what we’ve called “Authentic Intelligence“.
This business itself is over fifteen years old and was already thriving when I was introduced to the owners three years ago, in Summer 2020. At that stage, they were ready to choose to commit to investing in the business during the middle of the pandemic. Investing, as it turned out, into their own “AI”, their business as an “Authentic Intelligence” “machine” capable of not only solving the needs of the business and their clients but also of constantly learning and evolving from experience. Having displayed the confidence and commitment to both invest and stay the course, less than three years after beginning the process they are well on the way to having more than trebled their revenues, with profits expanding even further. Their potential is far beyond that though, as their “AI” system has equipped them to keep learning and so keep growing to a considerable scale.
A success story for “AI” then, and one that does not take computers to learn, but instead takes human learnings from designing a system where humans thrive together towards common goals.
Would you like to build your own business into one equipped with such an “Authentic Inteliigence“?
If so, I’d love to talk with you, to listen to where you are and where you seek to take your business, to “What Comes Next”.
For today, though, let me share some of the elements needed in order to build your business into your own “AI”.
One word to begin with is CLARITY.
Using the business mentioned today, they developed clarity for themselves and their business in the following areas. They are listed generally in the order they were focussed upon, though of course with overlaps and iterative review as they have learned and grown:
- Purpose – Why they are here as a business, what do they offer to their clients, their people, and broader society
- Culture – Who they choose to be, how they choose to behave and to make decisions.
- Vision – Their vision for the business into the future?
- Positioning – Who they are as a business and how they represent themselves, as well as who the clients and team members they wish to attract, develop and retain.
- Strategy for Growth – Always under review, this is best developed and implemented using the concept of Capacity Strategy and Planning (for more on this framework, search this blog)
- Roles and Responsibilities – who is responsible for what.
Going back to clarity, having total clarity on all of these at all times can build a non-hierarchical and highly functional “machine”, one that can indeed learn and grow somewhat autonomously, with no or minimal direction “from the top”.
I also emphasise the power and vital importance of both Purpose and Culture. No matter how much clarity a business has around all other areas, it will only be an “Authentic Intelligence” capable of evolving and learning if the people within the “machine” are both empowered and intrinsically motivated to learn and grow individually and together.
I hope today’s thoughts on AI have given you pause, to have you reflect on your own business and how evolved it is in terms of being a machine capable of “Authentic Intelligence”.