The Paradox of Productivity
There’s an alarming productivity gap starting to form across teams.
Have you noticed it?
I’ve spent the past six months in rooms across the country, speaking with teams in manufacturing, healthcare, finance (you name it) and the same pattern keeps showing up:
Not everyone is getting the same results with AI.
Here are my 3 core observations between the most productive team members – and the worst:
Some team members are still holding off on using AI.
Because they’re too busy with their daily tasks, they don’t have time to tinker with whatever AI model has come out this week. They also don’t care – because they feel like they’re already doing the job you’re paying them for. They think to themselves, “Stop shoving AI down my throat George!”
These are the deferrers. Their productivity doesn’t change at all.
Some team members are getting lazier: These are the folks on your teams who are taking a task, dropping it into a prompt, and copy-pasting the outcome.
You stare at the draft and think to yourself “Wtf is this?” AI slop at its finest.
These are the delegators. Their productivity is dropping – and they’re becoming harder to manage.
Lastly, there are the drivers.
These are your folks who can’t stop rambling about 10x-ing their outputs, complaining about token usage and the latest GPT model.
They sound crazy, and yet – their productivity is skyrocketing as they take on the work of 3 team members.
All of this is leading us to the Paradox of Productivity:
“The more productive AI becomes,
the wider the gap in our team’s productivity.”
So What?
Well, the very technology meant to democratize productivity instead magnifies human choice.
AI doesn't determine your trajectory, but your mindset towards it does. Will you learn to lead it, passively lean on it, or ignore it entirely?
Let’s fast-forward a year from today. If the gap continues to grow in your team, it’s inevitable that people will be left behind (Exhibit A: tech layoffs at an all-time high).
So how do we, as leaders, ensure that we can bring our teams along the adoption journey?
3 Things You Can Do to Bridge the Gap
Provide training to build AI competency. We’ve found that hands-on, tangible training helps to remove fear and build confidence quickly.
Reinforce the behaviour you want to see. Share stories about John who built a copilot agent and Jane who replaced her marketing workflow.
Create a culture of continuous learning. Praise the practice, not the outcomes. Recognize people for taking action, regardless of how basic it seems.
Honestly, you might be reading this and thinking “Jay. Rich. I’m living this right now. But how do I do all of this – on top of my day job!?”
Well, lots of companies are hiring us as their fractional change experts – book a call with Rich to learn more here.
