Why you need Creative thinkers with the arrival of A.I?
Why a Business Design Mentor?
- Who replaced the word ‘Hoover or vaccum cleaner’ with a ‘Dyson’?
- Where would Apple be without Steve Jobs (more importantly Steve Wozniak) where would we be without our I-phones etc.?
- Where would Disney be without Walt (his brother Roy) and their team of Imagineers? What would our childhood memories be without Disney?
- Where would progress be without SpaceX, TESLA, Solar City?
Where does enterprise, economic wealth & prosperity start i.e. The Industrial Revolution in Scotland in the mid-eighteenth century and the late nineteenth century IT explosion in California’s Silicon Valley 1970’s etc.? Each of the above explosions began in cities filled with Designers, Innovators & Creative Thinkers that possessed something different from everyone else!
In an age of A.I we really need individuals that offer something different! As many of us start using A.I on a daily basis what are we being fed? In reality we are being given solutions, answers that are the ‘MEDIAN’. Answers that are most predictable, ordinary, predictable, safe, uncreative- the centre ground. With full adoption of A.I & Chat GPT etc. we ignore the ideas and thinking of the outlier- generating a proliferation of predictability and sameness.
Malcolm Gladwell’s book ‘The Outliers’ highlights for me how important it is to recognise that even more so in 2026, success comes from individuals that think creatively –have a practical intelligence and think laterally rather than purely analytical.
As we all begin our journey adopting A.I it is important to remind ourselves that A.I does not possess true practical intelligence or real lateral thinking- but instead follows pattern matching, statistical analysis- it is linear not an out of the box thinker!
When I read books on A.I or discuss the challenges, ethics and opportunities that A.I brings with my peers- I am uncomfortably reminded of the Disney Pixar movie WALL-E for a variety of reasons.
As a mother of three young adults I already have to remind them that everything that A.I feeds you isn’t necessarily correct or factual. And yes we all need to start at least using it to understand, assess and anticipate its benefits, problems, limitations and conflicts. While ultimately not allowing it to replace our own critical thinking, writing and reading skills!
At a recent conference a leading Marketing CEO stated that he will no longer be considering job applications with a covering letter where the candidate has failed to write it themselves and demonstrated that they had quite clearly used ChatGPT.
When we evaluate the change in human behaviour in business with the adoption of the I-phone & social media- both good and bad what can we learn and anticipate with A.I?
10 years ago I was inspired to write my book series ‘The Entrepreneur- White Ball Thinking’ and ‘The Enterprise- Black Box Thinking’ which epitomises the creative aspects of the Entrepreneur and the importance of critical thinking, creativity and out the box thinking in business.
The book ‘How the Scots Invented the Modern World’ demonstrates this perfectly with Scotlands rich heritage of creative thinkers, innovators and entrepreneurs who think differently, process information differently true critical thinkers, optimists, problem solvers. From Adam Smith -the father of Economics, Inventors- James Watt, John Logie Baird, Alexander Graham Bell, Sir Alexander Fleming & Carnegie- Philanthropist.
I believe that we are moving into uncharted waters with A.I and only time will tell what the adoption of A.I will bring.
So what questions should you be asking NOW?
- Who in your team can use A.I and still have the discernment to challenge it and practice their own Critical Thinking?
- Who in your team can communicate effectively and articulate without the aid of A.I?
- Who is your secret weapon- a team member that possess true practical intelligence or real lateral thinking, an out of the box thinker! Not a linear thinker?
- What is the most negative & positive consequence of I-phones in the workplace- How will this play out with A.I?
- How will YOU strengthen your uniqueness in a sea of sameness with the increased adoption of A.I ?
- How can your organisation still maintain originality (communicate as a human) and still effectively take advantage of A.I?
FINALLY
Who in your team thinks different from everyone else?
The ANTITHESIS of how A.I. or Chat GPT thinks and works?
The Outlier, Contrarian, Maverick, Dissenter?
Looking for a Fractional Mentor ? Feel free to drop me an email to arrange an informal chat info@businessdesignmentor.com
Or if you would like to continue this conversation feel free to drop me an e-mail for a coffee and a chat!
