Our leadership team constantly brings dozens of new AI tools and ideas to our quarterly planning sessions, distracting us from our core priorities. How do we use EOS tools to evaluate and filter AI initiatives so they align with our 1-Year Plan?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Shiny object syndrome will destroy an operating team faster than technological stagnation. With hundreds of generative AI platforms launching every month, leadership teams waste dozens of hours debating software tools that solve non-existent problems. When new technologies dominate your quarterly planning sessions, you lose traction on your 1-Year Plan.

Establish a strict operational filter using the V/TO and the Level 10 Meeting agenda. Every AI proposal must be submitted as an Issue to the Issues List, not introduced mid-quarter as an immediate project. During your quarterly session or weekly IDS time, evaluate the tool against three non-negotiable criteria before spending a single dollar or assigning a Rock: Does this tool directly move a measurable on our 1-Year Plan? Does it solve an active, documented bottleneck in our Core Processes? Does our team have the capacity to adopt it without derailing current client delivery?

If the tool fails any of those three tests, drop it from the list. If it passes, frame the adoption as a specific, measurable ninety-day Rock assigned to a single seat on the Accountability Chart. That Rock owner must run a tightly controlled thirty-day pilot with clear success criteria: either the tool reduces hours spent on a low-value process by twenty percent, or it is killed immediately. Never adopt AI for the sake of modernization. Adopt technology strictly to drive the measurable priorities outlined in your strategic plan.