Stage 2: Plan
Talk to the People
The people doing the work understand it best. But getting honest, useful input is harder than scheduling a meeting and asking questions.
The Consultation Trap
Most AI initiatives start with a survey or a workshop. Everyone fills in forms. Leadership feels consulted. Boxes get ticked.
But surveys capture opinions, not reality. Workshops surface the loudest voices, not the best insights. And the people who know where the real problems are? They often don't speak up.
Getting real input requires more than asking. It requires earning trust, creating safety, and being genuinely curious.
What You're Up Against
Fear of Being Replaced
The moment you mention AI, people hear "automation" and think "redundancy". They become defensive. They downplay problems. They protect their territory.
How to handle it:
Lead with augmentation, not automation. "We want to give you superpowers" lands better than "We want to make things more efficient." Show examples where AI helps people do better work, not less work.
The Politics of Who Gets Consulted
Some people feel entitled to be asked. Others feel overlooked when they aren't. The order you talk to people, and who knows about it, matters more than you'd think.
How to handle it:
Start with the people who do the work, not the people who manage the work. Then bring findings to leadership. It signals respect for frontline expertise.
Performative Answers
People tell you what they think you want to hear. Or what makes them look good. Or what they think will get them resources. Rarely the unvarnished truth.
How to handle it:
Create safety. Make it clear you're not auditing or reporting back names. Anonymous feedback channels help. So does being genuinely curious rather than interrogative.
The Sceptics
Every organisation has people who've seen initiatives come and go. They've sat through the workshops, filled in the surveys, watched nothing change. They're tired of it.
How to handle it:
Don't try to convert them with enthusiasm. Show them something real. A quick win they can see and touch. Credibility comes from delivery, not promises.
Better Approaches
Shadow, Don't Interview
Watching someone work for an hour reveals more than an hour of questions. You see the friction they've stopped noticing. You see the workarounds that have become invisible.
Ask About Pain, Not Process
"What's frustrating?" gets better answers than "Walk me through your workflow." People can always articulate what annoys them, even if they can't articulate why.
Find the Informal Leaders
Every team has someone others go to for help - not because of their title, but because they know things. Find that person. They'll tell you how things really work.
Listen for Workarounds
"We use a spreadsheet for that" or "I just text Sarah directly" - these are signals. Official systems aren't working. People have built their own solutions.
Red Flags to Listen For
When you hear these, dig deeper. There's usually something underneath:
“"That's above my pay grade"”
“"You'd have to ask [someone else]"”
“"It's always been like that"”
“"The system doesn't let us"”
“"We tried that before"”
“"Management won't go for it"”
Want an Outside Perspective?
Sometimes people tell an outsider things they won't tell their boss. I can help surface what's really going on.
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