AI A Better Way: Improve Personal Productivity
When we talk about AI in the workplace, the conversation usually rockets straight to massive process overhauls, sweeping technology rollouts, and enterprise-wide redesigns. But what if the real opportunity to disrupt — and improve — the workforce doesn't start with systems, but with individuals?
We recently met with Curt James, change and transformation manager, who shared how he and his team are rethinking AI disruption — not just from the top down, but from the desk level up.
Rethinking AI Disruption: Two Paths
There are two main ways to drive AI disruption in an organization. The first is the traditional functional approach: breaking down core business processes, like Talent Acquisition, and reengineering them with AI, automation, and good old-fashioned process improvement. This work is important — it modernizes operations at scale, making them faster, smarter, and more efficient.
But the second path is where the real magic happens: individual productivity. Curt and his team have been asking a different question: How can I, as one person, work better and faster using AI? By focusing on personal productivity, they’re uncovering an even bigger lever for change. Because real transformation doesn’t just happen in process maps and org charts — it happens when individuals change how they think, work, and create, one decision at a time.
The Hidden Barriers to AI Adoption
Helping people leverage AI in their daily work isn’t just about handing them new tools. Curt’s team has surfaced three major barriers that hold people back:
Fear: The anxiety that "AI will take my job" is pervasive — and powerful enough to paralyze progress.
Ignorance: Not knowing what AI can do, or how to use it day-to-day, keeps potential locked away.
Guilt: A very human barrier. Some employees feel that using AI for tasks like writing emails or drafting proposals is "cheating," a violation of the deeply ingrained value of citing our work or "doing it yourself."
To overcome these barriers, organizations need to build psychological safety. People need permission to experiment, to fail, and to learn — without fear of judgment. They also need a shift in mindset: In today’s AI-enabled workplace, every employee is, in a sense, a team leader — managing not just their work, but the AI “assistants” now embedded in their daily routines.
Build AI Habits
One-off AI training or isolated initiatives aren't enough. Lasting change happens when AI becomes a seamless part of daily work — as natural as asking a colleague for help.
This means encouraging employees to:
Start each day with a simple AI-powered task
For repetitive or creative tasks, build a habit of asking, ‘Can AI help me with this?’
Brainstorm new ideas, draft content, and synthesize information with AI
Small, consistent interactions with AI tools will gradually erode fear, build competence, and normalize AI collaboration. Over time, employees stop seeing AI as a crutch — anticipating needs, adding value, and making work better.
AI Is a People Challenge
Here’s the takeaway for the change management community: AI adoption is not a technology challenge. It’s a people challenge. While organizations are investing heavily in AI-driven process redesign, the bigger, largely untapped opportunity is at the individual level. Imagine if every employee became 150% more productive, more creative, and more capable because they had mastered working with AI. The cumulative impact would surpass any gains made from pure process improvements.
Disrupting the workforce with AI isn’t just about technical skills — it’s about building a new cultural foundation based on experimentation, resilience, and curiosity. It’s about rethinking what it means to "own your work" in an AI-powered world. And it’s about empowering every employee to lead, even if their "team" consists only of the AI tools on their screen. Change practitioners are uniquely positioned to drive this shift, but only if we treat it like the behavior and mindset transformation that it truly is. Let’s stop treating AI like a threat — and start teaching people to lead it — one person at a time.
Contact ChangeStaffing to learn more about how to positively disrupt the workforce with AI!
Thank you to Curt James for his thought leadership and for collaborating with us on this blog.
Written by Kylette Harrison