Treat AI as a Problem to be Solved

AI fever has infected many companies. And the rush to implement AI is akin to the gold rush of 1849. “Put it in! Show your customers that you are smart and worthy of their money! Do it NOW!”

Not sure what to do? Find an AI consulting firm (LOTS of them already), give them a contract, and get going!

Whoa! Slow down a bit and take some advice from the late Karl Popper, one of the 20th century’s most influential philosophers of science. His advice, found in the title of his book All Life is Problem Solving can be summarized as follows: to meet our needs and reach our goals we must act, and acting requires solving problems.

Questions that must be answered.

A few years ago, we created a course focused on solving complex business problems. The course was built around our position that both problems and opportunities can and should be treated as a simple (but not easy to resolve) problem – there is a gap between what you have and what you want and the gap is hard to close.

So, maybe you see AI as an opportunity for your company’s advancement or as a technology problem to be solved before you are seen as irrelevant. In either case we suggest you answer the following questions.

1. What’s the context of this problem within your business model? Do you even know what you want to do for your business and how it might impact cost or revenue streams?

2. Who owns the problem? (Problem owner = person with authority to make needed changes.) We suggest that this is a C-suite problem because you are likely to alter your business model.

3. Who are the stakeholders? Is this a technology issue for IT or a money issue for the CFO or a people issue for HR.

4. What do they want and how can they help? AI is most certainly cross-functional, so you need a mixed team.

5. How much time do you have? Although it seems that time is of the essence, you need to be realistic. Narrow AI (like Alexa or Siri) is available now. But General AI remains largely theoretical and is yet to be achieved.

6. What’s the specific gap between the present state of the business and the desired state? Focus on the problem to be addressed, not the technology.

7. Why is it hard to close the gap? Do you have the needed capabilities and capacity?

8. Are you solving the real problem? Ah, here’s the heart of the matter. Is the problem “We don’t have AI” or is it a real business problem needed using this new technology?

8. What defines successful problem resolution? Don’t confuse implementation with installation. What are the business results you can (and should) expect?

9. What is the cost of solving / not solving the problem? Run the numbers, please.

10. Given the circumstances, how might you close the problem gap? What is the portfolio of projects that you’ll need to move from intention to execution? Do you have the capabilities and capacity in-house, or will you need strategic partners to help?

11. Which of the alternatives is best and why is it best? There will be more than one way to solve the AI problem – do nothing, do something safe, do something wild, or do something risky.

12. What specific changes must you make and how will you implement them? The implementation of AI WILL have a ripple effect of needed changes across your entire business.

13. What new problems will the solution trigger? Watch for unintended consequences – they always appear.

14. Do you have the capabilities needed to implement the AI solution?

15. Do you have enough capacity to implement the solution AND keep the business running on a day-to-day basis? Can you lead the needed projects, or do you need someone to help?

16. Post implementation: What did you learn?

MindPrep Education

We have a few offers regarding resolving complex problems. Reach out if interested. Webinars, courses, and coaching are available.

And …….

If you like our weekly musings, please pass them on to friends and colleagues. They can get on our mailing list (which is never shared) by clicking HERE.

Second, our next 40-minute session of Directed Dialogues is scheduled for April 18th at 12:00 CT. We’ll explore some of the realities of AI. Join us on Zoom. No need to register – just show up. Here’s the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84381397493.

I hope you have a great week.

Bill