Insights

This video is an introduction about how to unblock AI value. It was originally presented to a group of leaders and business owners.

The theme:

AI capability doesn’t always lead to enterprise value, because organizational issues usually block AI value more often than technical issues.

Some video highlights:

• A story analogy
• The key organizational question
• Are you becoming faster without getting full AI value?
• Are you getting AI value beyond task-level productivity?
• What effects does AI have on your people and culture?
• Transformation … or not
• Getting started with organizational aspects

The video:

https://youtu.be/9X3xmOYOKKo

A white paper with similar content:

Additional information is on the site AI page via the menu or directly at https://novusleadershipinstitute.com/ai-operating-model-fit/

Most of my health software posts are at SoftwareCPR.com …

Here are some from this year:

• “Why Software Keeps Failing” https://www.softwarecpr.com/2026/01/why-software-keeps-failing/
• “Software Flaws Risk Patient Safety” https://www.softwarecpr.com/2026/01/medical-device-software-problems-risk-patient-safety/
• Common Medical Device Cybersecurity Missteps https://www.softwarecpr.com/2026/01/common-medical-device-cybersecurity-missteps/
• AI is Simultaneously Aiding Cybersecurity and Increasing Danger https://www.softwarecpr.com/2026/03/ai-is-changing-cybersecurity-and-increasing-danger/
• AI-Powered Medical Device Cyberattacks are Coming … Faster Than Expected https://www.softwarecpr.com/2026/05/ai-cyberattack-coming/
• Secure Software – Don’t Wait, and Don’t Reinvent the Wheel https://www.softwarecpr.com/2026/05/secure-software-dont-wait-and-dont-reinvent-the-wheel/
• A New Warning About Unchecked Use of AI in the Quality Process https://www.softwarecpr.com/2026/05/ai-use-in-manufacturer-quality-systems/
• Here We Go Again … (AI implementation issues) https://www.softwarecpr.com/2026/06/ai_implementation_issues/
• The Cybersecurity “Black Hole” in eSTAR https://www.softwarecpr.com/2026/07/delayed-cybersecurity-work-impacts/
• iOS App Cybersecurity Changes https://www.softwarecpr.com/2026/07/ios-app-cybersecurity-changes/
• The Basics are Always … the Basics https://www.softwarecpr.com/2026/08/the-basics-are-always-the-basics/
• Air Traffic Control and Medical Devices https://www.softwarecpr.com/2026/09/air-traffic-control-disruption-and-medical-devices/

To get notifications of future updates and regulatory issues, you can join the SoftwareCPR mailing list for free at https://www.softwarecpr.com/join-mailing-list/.

 

What are the core themes of what you’ve been publishing?

I thought I’d check some of my posts for the past few years.

Here is what I did … it’s simple and an exercise you can replicate for any social media (LinkedIn in my case):

• Download your posts (“shares” on LinkedIn)
• Upload the content to an AI engine of your choice
• Ask for theme analysis and grouping

I had Grok analyze a few years of my LI posts … below are the results (had to be edited to fit within LinkedIn post length limits). The AI summary was reasonably accurate with a just a few misses here and there”

1. The Art of Leadership in Uncertain Times
   • Focus: Leadership strategies, responsibilities, and mindset shifts in the face of crises, uncertainty, and change. Leadership is a recurring theme, with emphasis on adaptability, feedback, and resilience—key traits for navigating today’s volatile world.
   • Example Posts:
     • 3/2/2022: Observing leaders during crises as a learning tool.
     • 2/23/2022: Early warning signs of work going astray.
     • 2/1/2022: Addressing fear as a leader.
2. AI: Opportunity, Risk, and the Human Edge
   • Focus: The role of AI in business and the irreplaceable human elements it cannot replicate.
   • Example Posts:
     • 4/24/2024: Salieri vs. Mozart analogy—AI as a technical tool needing human artistry.
     • 5/24/2024: AI replacing executive jobs—questioning its limits.
3. Breaking the Industrial Mindset: Knowledge Work Reimagined
   • Focus: Critiques of industrial-era practices in modern knowledge work and suggestions for improvement.
   • Example Posts:
     • 3/14/2025: The persistence of “fast-paced” job descriptions and the “always busy” trap.
     • 11/16/2022: Avoiding destructive efficiency.
     • 6/15/2022: Applying 80/20 to employee performance management.
4. The Power of Communication: Bridging Gaps and Building Trust
   • Focus: The critical role of effective communication in business success, with examples of failures and solutions.
   • Example Posts:
     • 6/24/2024: Language and thinking skills in customer service.
     • 4/6/2022: The simplest change management tool: a shared glossary.
5. Change as Opportunity: Thriving Amid Uncertainty
   • Focus: Embracing inevitable uncertainty and change as drivers of innovation and competitive advantage if approached proactively.
   • Example Posts:
     • 3/3/2025: Uncertainty as a friend in strategy, enemy in execution.
     • 11/11/2020: Innovating forward instead of waiting for “normal.”
6. The Productivity Paradox: Doing Less to Achieve More
   • Focus: Rethinking productivity beyond busyness and mere activity.
   • Example Posts:
     • 2/20/2024: 4D prioritization (dump, delay, delegate, do) with AI.
     • 7/24/2024: 10X productivity—myth or reality, and its implications.
7. Building Teams That Win
   • Focus: The centrality of people management, development, and culture in organizational success.
   • Example Posts:
     • 2/9/2022: Winning the talent war by improving people management.
     • 11/14/2023: Organizational development as key to growth.
     • 9/23/2022: The magic of peer mentoring.
8. Navigating the Future: Strategy in a Digital Age
   • Focus: Strategic insights for staying competitive.
   • Example Posts:
     • 10/25/2024: Assessing organizational capability to navigate change and economic turbulence
     • 3/7/2025: Recession-proofing your company.
     • 11/15/2023: Signs your company isn’t acting fast enough.

You can find many of the posts on this website as well … look in the post list or use the search function.

“In the AI era, only the fastest survive”
– recent banner ad headline on the Wall Street Journal front page

How many times have you seen ads similar to “In the ____ era, only the fastest survive”?

Speed can indeed be important.

Ironically, most organizations behave in opposite ways.

And most are rarely willing to make the commitment and investment to speed things up in a sustainable way.

Rather, the search is often for a “silver bullet” that will change things, yet also allow people not to meaningfully change (especially leaders).

AI can definitely help, but only if expectations are appropriate.

Fundamentally, the most important first question is “do we need to be the fastest?” The implied answer in the statement “only the fastest survive” is “yes” … but is that really the case? (If so, don’t tell lions 😉

If truly yes, then figure out how AI can help.

Knowledge work is still in the grips of industrial mindset 66 years after Peter Drucker named it.

Exhibit A: how many job postings or descriptions have the words “fast paced” in them?

The phrase invokes some vague expectations of “speed” … whatever that means, since it’s rarely explained.

How does someone look “fast paced” in a job? Always be doing something, so when someone sees you, you will look busy.

The assumption: for maximum speed (assumed to be equate to productivity), we will always be doing something.

This is where a common productivity vanity metric often rears its head: “utilization” … which usually degrades into “how much time are you doing something“?

This then translates to “always look busy” for job survival.

It’s hard to look busy when you’re thinking … and thinking when needed is a key part of knowledge work.

The paradox: as long as “productivity” and job success is about looking busy, we won’t achieve higher productivity and job success.

How can you describe a job – whether for advertising an opening or as part of performance management – so that there are meaningful metrics?