The Beauty of a Novel Idea: Upskill in Communication Before AI

How about this for a novel idea? Instead of another speech including "so I asked AI..." what if we led with "these words are 100% my own and not AI-generated"?

The rumors are true: AI saves you tons of time. It is a powerful tool that improves efficiency and increases one’s output. It's going to become as ubiquitous as Wi-Fi, and, as we delegate our thinking to it more freely, people are going to be crippled by its absence. I'm going to focus on how leaders need to be wary of eroding human connection through AI over-reliance. The majority of workplace dissatisfaction boils down to poor communication, and we don't want AI to compound the issue. Before we obsess over upskilling in AI, we should prioritize good communication.  

First, more on the claim that poor communication is the primary cause of the workplace blues. I could rattle off some findings that support my statement—from Gallup, McKinsey, Deloitte, peer reviewed journals—but I'll speak from the heart instead. Here's why poor communication is the root of dissatisfaction:

It misses the point.

The point is the raison d'etre. When a leader is vague and beats around the bush, he misses the point. When a supervisor does not listen to the direct report who disagrees with a policy, she misses the point. When people are unhappy with their existence at work...and then don't converse with their feelings, they miss the point. You may be thinking that I have recklessly broadened the definition of communication. I say, nay! "The successful conveying or sharing of ideas and feelings" can happen in a variety of modalities, including self communication. It is how we connect, and we are creatures of connection. 

This is why I believe communication is so essential. I worry that if we forget how to do it, or we don't develop the skills in the first place, we don't just lose our human connection to one another and the cosmos, but to ourselves. Outsourcing the labor of connecting will render us unfeeling.

I am currently reading Make Something Wonderful, a posthumous collection of writings, speeches, interviews, and correspondence from Steve Jobs. It's hard to imagine Jobs composing his emails with AI, and I'd love to hear his take on AI in general. He once said, "Creativity is just connecting things." He also said, "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma—which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice." To have a hope of connecting things, the beautiful process of being in the world, we cannot turn to a chatbot every time we have a question. To have a voice, we have to speak—with vulnerability, uncertainty, courage.

These words are 100% my own. They are nothing special, but I know that in the absence of my breath, they would not exist, and that is pretty neat. These thoughts could only come from me, and they have the chance of connecting with someone else, and that connection will be the result of our shared thinking, heartfelt communication—even if just for a moment—a nod from afar, above the fray.

Great leaders are great communicators. Communication is a skill they practice and do their best to perfect. And it is a responsibility they cannot abdicate.