Imagine if data were all it took to get us to change. We’d stop smoking, no more excessive drinking, eating, screen addiction, or BASE jumping in those crazy flying squirrel suits.
Sadly, the human operating system, our OS, isn’t data driven. It’s story driven.
We have an SOS – a Story OS – and this is a warning for innovators who are still trying to use data first, as the frontline of your AI storytelling.
Because we’ve all been there — standing in front of a team, unveiling a new AI tool or workflow, only to be met with crossed arms, hushed anxieties, and that unmistakable look that says: what does this mean for me? It’s enough to make any leader’s confidence waver.
It might feel like your colleagues are against AI. What they’re experiencing is disconnection. They’re waiting for someone to show them where they fit in the future you’re describing. And no ROI slide deck will do that. A well-crafted story will.
AI adoption fails most often not because the technology is wrong, but because the humans never felt included in the journey. When people can’t see themselves in the story of change, they write their own, and it’s usually a story about replacement, irrelevance, and loss of purpose.
It’s grim. After watching Oracle lay off 30,000 people with a 6am email, and no riots in the streets, what else should people anticipate from your AI roll out?
It’s the quiet terror rolling in the background that you need to address.
Great storytelling closes the distance between where people are now and where they could be. It answers the unspoken question every AI skeptic is really asking: Am I still needed? Will I still matter?
Next time you’re in a room full of doubters, don’t open with the tool. Open with a story. Tell them about a team that feared being replaced by automation — and instead became the people who shaped how it was used. Talk about the analyst who thought AI would erase her judgment, only to discover it amplified it. The story shouldn’t be about proving the skeptics wrong. It should be about showing them a path forward that feels human, achievable, and theirs.
Need help? I’m working with some of the biggest organizations in the world on their AI storytelling now. I’d love to help you tell yours.