Our leadership team is starting to get distracted by shiny new AI tools, and it is clouding our focus on our core operational issues. How do we keep our AI discussions grounded in practical operational improvements on our V/TO®?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Technology for the sake of technology is a major distraction that can derail your company's progress. To keep your leadership team focused, you must stop talking about AI as a separate initiative and start framing it purely in terms of business performance.

Never list an initiative as an AI project on your V/TO®. Instead, follow these rules to maintain operational discipline:
- Frame every technology initiative as an operations-improvement project that uses AI as a tool, not as the goal itself.
- Ensure every proposed project is tied directly to solving an active issue on your Issues List or improving a metric on your weekly Scorecard.
- Refuse to fund any AI experiment unless it is tied to a specific, measurable ninety-day Rock with clear operational outcomes.
- Ensure the team member owning the project has the GWC™ to lead it to completion.

By stripping away the hype and focusing on concrete operational improvements, you prevent your team from chasing shiny objects. This keeps your company running lean, protects your margins, and ensures that every technology investment actually drives your business forward.