When Disruption Hits Home

2024 started as a banner year for Organizing4Innovation. Our clients were seeing real success—two case studies highlighted how our Innovation Management platform had helped teams navigate complex innovation journeys.

Yet beneath this success, warning signs emerged.

📉 Email response rates were declining—market fluctuation or something deeper?

🤖 LLMs were becoming more capable—just another tool or a fundamental shift?

Then, while troubleshooting a technical issue, the realization hit me.

The Wake-Up Call

I tested Large Language Models (LLMs) by creating ten prompts to help a team get started with Microsoft Copilot—defining goals, setting up a pilot, and structuring workflows. The results weren’t perfect, but they were shockingly good.

Our platform, six years in the making, had lost its competitive edge.

I sat at my desk, staring at those prompts, feeling both fascination and dread. My go-to comfort food—chocolate—became a frequent companion as I processed what this meant for our business.

The Innovator’s Dilemma – From the Inside

Ironically, I had advised firms on disruptive innovation for years, yet now I was experiencing the same resistance to change firsthand. My journey with LLMs followed a pattern I should have recognized:

1️⃣ Dismissal – Seemed too flawed to be a threat.

2️⃣ Cognitive Disconnect – Improved, but I ignored the implications.

3️⃣ Ego-Driven Resistance – Surely, human expertise was irreplaceable.

4️⃣ Uncomfortable Recognition – The landscape had fundamentally shifted.

Practicing What We Preach

The breakthrough came when I stopped fighting reality. LLMs aren’t replacing innovation leaders, but they are reshaping our role.

Instead of resisting, I leaned into the same principles we teach:

✔️ Run experiments instead of making assumptions.

✔️ Reframe AI as an augmentation tool, not a threat.

✔️ Embrace the human elements AI can’t replicate.

Charting a New Course

If we, as innovation experts, were struggling with this transition, what about other managers and teams facing similar disruptions?

🔹 The role of innovation leaders isn’t disappearing—it’s evolving.

🔹 AI can assist, but it can’t replace human-driven problem-solving.

🔹 The future belongs to those who learn how to work with AI, not against it.

Now, my focus is on helping firms navigate this shift, ensuring that AI, innovation, and new workflows don’t just get introduced—they deliver real impact.

🚀 If your firm is struggling to make AI and workflow transitions work, let’s talk. Your insights will help me make this book even better!