A senior leader I’ve worked with many times called me recently and said:
“We’re bringing AI into our operations—but I need help getting my people onboard with it.”
It was a fair concern. The team was swamped with a growing backlog of data updates and reviews. Morale was low. Execution was inconsistent. And like many organizations today, they saw AI as the answer.
But when we dug in, the real issue wasn’t the absence of automation.
It was the absence of clarity.
One Role, Many Variations
There wasn’t one process—there were dozens.
Depending on who handled a data review, how long they’d been in the role, and which product line they worked with, the steps varied dramatically. Experienced team members often over-processed. Newer employees under-processed. Everyone was frustrated.
AI couldn’t solve that. Not yet.
Start With Ideas, Not Automation
We didn’t start with tech. We started with the people doing the work.
Using the Ideas-to-Action Process, we led a rapid sprint to:
- Capture the unspoken knowledge in people’s heads
- Map how the work actually got done
- Identify inconsistencies, redundancies, and blind spots
- Define the “best way” to handle different scenarios
This was more than process mapping—it was a shift in ownership.
The team wasn’t being told how to improve. They were driving the improvement.
They named the frustrations. They proposed the fixes.
They validated what worked.
The Turning Point
With shared clarity came momentum:
- Backlogs dropped
- Stress eased
- Performance stabilized
- New hires ramped up faster
- Veterans stopped wasting time on tasks that didn’t matter
And most importantly?
Now the team could see where AI fit.
Automation wasn’t a top-down mandate.
It became a team-owned solution.
The Bigger Lesson
We talk a lot about digital transformation. But too often, we skip the human foundation.
Deploying AI without shared clarity is like paving over a crooked road.
You may move faster—but you’re headed in the wrong direction.
Before you automate, ask:
- Do we have a shared understanding of how work gets done?
- Have we captured what our frontline people know?
- Are we solving the right problem—or just moving it faster?
Take Your Next Step
This story is part of the Ideas to Action case study series, highlighting real-world results from organizations that engaged their frontline employees to solve problems, improve performance, and accelerate innovation.
✔ Ideas to Action is available now on Amazon and other booksellers.
✔ Read more case stories and access leadership resources at www.ideastoactionplatform.com.
Your next breakthrough may already exist.
You just need a way to bring it to life—by tapping the people who already know how. Because the best consultants for igniting innovation and accelerating results?
They’re already on your payroll!
