How to find direction when chaos abounds

By about 1200 C.E., Polynesians were masters of oceanic exploration, roaming 7000 kilometres across the Pacific Ocean in outrigger canoes. Guided by subtle changes of wind and waves, the paths of migrating birds, bursts of light from bioluminescent plankton, and the position of the stars, they reached and settled islands from New Zealand to Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, the closest Polynesian island to South America.

Among the most respected people of the Polynesian community was the NAVIGATORS. The navigators could find small islands far away and back and forth over great distances and repeat these trips.

During the day they would of course be watching the sun.? At night they would use their hands, but they also had “Shell maps”.? These were woven sticks at different angles with small seashells connected to the sticks, the indices & intersections of which marked stars.? They had lots of them. They had to be individually made for each destination, so travellers took a supply made for their home island to exchange for others on arrival.

Travelling home from their southerly voyages, they would use the “Shell maps” to travel north. As they crossed above the equator the North Star (Polaris) would come into view and every following night Polaris would be higher in the sky. When Polaris was as high as a coconut held at arms length (20° +/-) they would then turn to the west and keep Polaris on their Starboard beam. The Sunrise at their stern and the Sunset at bow. This would keep them on a course that would run down the 20°N line of latitude which will lead them to the Hawaiian Islands.

In modern times, the North Star continues to be a symbol of guidance and direction. It is a reminder to stay true to ourselves and follow our own path, even when the world around us seems to be in chaos.

Organisations now, more than ever, need to determine what inspires and influences them. They need to be crystal clear on the definition of their purpose.

Why? Simply put, it is Gen AI.?

Whilst artificial intelligence is not new – indeed from 1957 to 1974, AI flourished – what has changed is that it now has the power and the ubiquity to make this a pivotal moment in the history of technology.

At pivotal moments in history, people need strong leadership.

Generative AI has the potential to transform organisations, products, services, and people’s lives.

It also has the potential to consumer mega amounts of investment. Indeed, it could be argued that large chunks of investment aren’t even understood by the organisations making them. People are doing things. People are learning. People are playing. People are testing.? Ideas are being developed and organisations, desperate to keep up, are turning their heads in a multitude of directions without knowing necessarily what is the right one, or when is the right time.?

The risk here lies in the direction the organisation is going in and who is leading it.? Has the organisation or the department or the programme thought about a clear mission?? Have they rethought their raison d’etre in light of the new technology environment. Are they an automaker or “a supplier of individual premium mobility with innovative mobility services”?? Are they a bank or a tech company?

Whatever the outcome, the starting point for embracing AI is to approach it from a business perspective, and for that you need business leaders. People who can understand technology but who can think of how the technology can be used to further the organisation’s mission.? People who will start with the business problem you want to solve. When it starts that way, there is usually a good ending because the problem eventually ties back to serving customers better and delivering more value for the company. When business leaders say, “that’s the problem I want to solve with technology,” it becomes easier to develop the technology road map to solve that problem.

So, think about this problem. In just 30 years’ time, it is forecasted that the human population of our planet will be close to 10 billion and producing enough food to feed these hungry mouths will be a challenge.?

To help combat this, we need look no further than the likes of John Deere. Back in 2013, John Deere unveiled its Farm Forward vision, demonstrating the concept of the “autonomous farm” where machinery would be remotely managed from a central control hub. It showed a farmer monitoring data points and managing machinery from a console in his home in real-time, while AI takes care of the moment-to-moment operational decisions.?

Since that time, Deere, the 180-year-old manufacturer of farming and industrial machinery, has spent the past 2 decades transforming itself into an artificial intelligence (AI) and data-driven business. Led by Blue River, its Silicon Valley-based machine learning business it has reassessed its mission and started with a business problem that it would seek to use technology and AI to solve.

In common with all successful transformations, John Deere had to do 2 crucial things, and they both relate to people.? Firstly, it had to bring in the right talent to lead this ‘business’ transformation.? It did. It brought talent in who could visualise and lead this initiative.? People who could articulate the business problem and use this to lead the development of the AI technology solutions that could solve the problem. To this day, John Deere is bringing in and backing the best business minds and talent that can understand the problems they need to solve.

Secondly, they have developed their culture to support the new business mission.? Organisational culture can either facilitate or hinder implementation of digital initiatives. But when transformation projects incorporate the right AI to enable beneficial outcomes and a cohesive workforce, the wins speak for themselves.

Whether it was rain or shine, sunlight or sunset, the Polynesians always got there successfully.?

They followed their “North Star” and they had great Navigators.