Navigating the Intersection of AI and Organizational Change: Insights from Jonathan Monson’s ACMP Webinar

Written by Victoria Kucherchuk, CCMP | CRP | PROSCI CCP Edited by ChatGPT

As an organizational change management (OCM) professional with a philosophical mindset, I’ve spent the past two years reflecting on the future of humanity and our profession in the age of AI. On August 6, 2024, ACMP members had the opportunity to explore these thoughts in depth during a webinar led by Jonathan Monson , the Organizational Change Management Lead at Stoneridge Software. The event, titled “Managing Change, Managing Meaning: AI, Identity, and a Life Worth Living,” delivered on its promises and offered a rich discussion that went beyond the basics of AI integration into daily work.

Managing Change by Managing Meaning

Jonathan Monson’s perspective on managing change was particularly striking – he emphasized that at its core, managing change is about managing meaning. While the webinar was centered around AI, it opened up broader conversations about the philosophical implications of technology and its integration into the real world. We were shown how tools like ChatGPT can influence change management practices, highlighting both their strengths and limitations. Jonathan’s demonstration of how the specificity of a prompt can affect the quality and tone of AI-generated content was particularly interesting for many of us in the OCM field.

The Role of AI in Organizational Change

In the webinar, Jonathan focused on the profound impact that AI technology has on OCM, organizations, and the world at large. He provided definitions of commonly used AI terminology and presented a timeline of AI development starting from the 1950s. A key reminder was that, whether with or without technology, OCM remains fundamentally about creating a shared context, generating a sense of purpose, and building a shared vision. Jonathan defines OCM as “strategic empathy,” and his views on AI’s impact on our profession were both engaging and insightful.

One of the essential takeaways was the importance of setting clear rules for using AI to make organizations more efficient. This involves decisions about which tasks should be kept for humans and which should be delegated to AI. Jonathan posed the critical question: Do we approach AI as a “centaur,” where tasks are thoughtfully divided between humans and machines, or as a “cyborg”?

Key Takeaways for Change Management Practitioners

Some of the most valuable insights from the webinar for change management practitioners included:

1. Preserve Human Collaboration: Don’t replace the facilitation and collaboration experience with a focus solely on deliverables that can be easily automated.
2. Iterate Quickly: Rapidly iterate on plans and drafts to enhance quality.
3. Strategize AI Use: Develop a strategy on when and how to use AI, considering whether to adopt a “centaur” or “cyborg” approach.
4. Lead with Empathy: Ensure that empathy remains at the forefront of change management efforts.

The Broader Implications of AI

AI is transforming industries and the nature of jobs, leading to concerns that it may replace creative and fulfilling roles. Jonathan encouraged participants to conduct proactive impact assessments, considering how AI can increase organizational productivity and affect workplace skills and employee motivation. While productivity is crucial, most of us are driven by more than just efficiency; we seek competence in our roles, connections with others, shared purpose, and agency to determine how we perform our work. In managing change, our priority should be to help people connect meaning to their jobs, not just to increase productivity.

Jonathan also cautioned against treating AI as an oracle, warning that this could lead to average ideas. Instead, he advocated for approaching AI as a conversational partner, even if it’s less comfortable than fully trusting the technology.

Thought-Provoking Questions for the Future

The webinar concluded with several thought-provoking questions about AI’s future impact. If our meaningful work becomes automated, does that make humans irrelevant, or does it free us to focus on what is most meaningful, aligning with our passions and skills? Will we retain our agency, or will we become dependent on machines? How must education evolve in response to AI? If AI reduces challenges, what becomes worth doing, and which challenges are worth preserving? As synthetic relationships between humans and AI become more common, how can we prevent them from overshadowing genuine human connections? Finally, how do we mitigate the risks of fraud and misinformation, particularly with the rise of deep fakes?

These are critical questions that will require attention at various levels in the coming years.

Conclusion

ACMP webinars are consistently a great source of inspiration, providing insights that can be directly applied to our work. In my case, I leveraged AI to edit this article and generate the title, demonstrating firsthand the power of AI in enhancing our professional practice.

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