Leading Change in the Smart Machine Age

Part I: Start with a Mindset Shift

In the book, Humility is the New Smart, Rethinking Human Excellence in the Smart Machine Age, the authors Edward Hess and Kathryn Ludwig, state that machines are taking on more manual and cognitive tasks that traditionally have been the purview of humans and so humans are feeling vulnerable. Many see this future as unfamiliar, scary, and stressful. I have teammates who are not sure what new skills they need, whether they can learn those new skills or if they will even like working with smart machines, and they cannot see what their future career looks like. For some, this fear may be so controlling it results in feelings of helplessness, isolation and being trapped. As a leader, I had to ask myself, how do I lead a team into the Smart Machine Age when fear grips the human talent we need to become excellent in this new era? In other words, if humans can’t beat machines, what can they do? What humans can do, is they can complement machines and do what machines cannot. Humans can critically think, engage with others, and create and innovate. I am excited to share with you how we can best achieve success in the smart machine age by shifting our mindsets from feeling controlled and trapped by machines, to a new mindset of feeling free to create, innovate and collaborate with machines; where machines become our ally rather than our enemy.

I often look for meaning in inspirational quotes to help me work through situations I am struggling to think through. One quote I have always loved is this one by Hillel, a Jewish philosopher: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” When reading the book, Mastering Leadership by Robert Anderson and William A. Adams it suddenly hit me what this quote means. The book talks about the Outer Game and the Inner Game for leadership effectiveness. I realized, Hillel was pointing to the Inner Game. That is, using your leadership consciousness—your personal values and belief system—as the effective means for working with and helping lead your team through change. This is relevant for change that challenges the essence of how your teammates think of and define themselves.

“If I am not for myself, who will be for me?” If I am not true to my own values in what I do and how I do it, how can others see me as authentic and want to follow me? Doing what you value and believe in lets you express your authenticity by operating in the creative sphere of your brain, the frontal lobes. Science shows that the frontal lobes release dopamine when you use your executive functions, problem solving, critical thinking and emotional intelligence skills. Dopamine is most commonly associated with the brain’s pleasure and reward system –your positivity system, and in this case it’s matched with your belief system. A perfect recipe for conscious values-based authentic leadership.

“If I am only for myself, what am I?” If I only think about what makes me happy, how can I influence others in a positive way? The “all about me” state lives in the reactive mode of our brain, the amygdala. The amygdala is where our flight or fight emotion lives. These emotions result in behaviors of controlling, protecting, and complying. I cannot think of one leader I would want to work with or under, who showed these behaviors as a normal course of action. Yes, at times we all resort to one of these behaviors. However, if we readjust from the reactive to the creative state and utilize the creative state, we become problem solvers and innovators again. Therefore, it is imperative for anyone leading change to act and guide others in the creative state.

“And if not now, when?” This is my call to action. The Smart Machine Age is upon us. It is vital that we team with machines, not fear them. I believe to achieve this, leaders must use their “inner game” and consciously extend themselves outward to help others see in themselves the opportunity for growth, professional development and personal fulfillment. As leaders we are at our best when we utilize our personal values and belief systems and operate in the creative part of our brain.

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