AI can already do some things perfectly. So, in an emerging era of AI, what will the psychology of the AI-driven leader need to be? “Perfectionism”?
“Perfectionism” is often just another name for “insecurity.” It’s a delaying tactic, not a decision. And it’s definitely not a strategy for winning.
Leadership in the AI Era:
The future AI-driven leader will be an “excellentist.”
An excellentist wants the best. They ask for and even demand the best: The best from themselves, the best from their subordinates, the best work, and the best way forward.
They understand that quality matters.
That remaining on mission gets things done.
An excellentist uses what they have, makes the best decisions, and (crucially) lets go when it’s time to launch.
So what’s the difference between a perfectionist and an excellentist:
Think of it like this:
A perfectionist will go to an average diner, order a steak, and complain that it isn’t as good as the steak at the upscale steakhouse.
An excellentist will go to the same diner and order the best burger there.
The excellentist understands that every company and every person has strengths and weaknesses, and does some things well, and other things not so well.
The perfectionist wants to force everything and everyone into a mold.
The excellentist wants to bring out the best (whatever that might be).
A perfectionist will throw away a broken bowl even if it is antique or a treasured family heirloom.
An excellentist will mend it, filling the cracks with gold to make them part of the design (as per the Japanese art of Kintsugi).
The AI Disruptor:
First, let’s acknowledge that (like the diner, and like the steakhouse) AI doesn’t do everything equally well. (But let’s leave aside what it might not do well.)
As we said at the beginning, it does some things perfectly. Sometimes too perfectly.
The output of an LLM can lack soul.
Outputs can sound wordy but without substance.
The same with AI-generated art. It’s the perfection that’s the problem. It looks contrived. We’ve already learned to spot it.
To get excellence with AI, you need to infuse it with soul.
A lot of people don’t really know who they are. So they go nowhere.
And, chasing the newest shiny object, brands and organizations drift from their mission and lose their identity.
Firstly, then, you need to discover who you really are (or what a brand really stands for).
Secondly, we need to know when to embrace the errors (or cracks). It’s in making use of the unexpected and unplanned that we often get something new and powerful (and something that others haven’t thought of (and that we didn’t think of)).
Cracks reveal what is underneath.
And what lies beneath is the deep psychology—evolutionary and archetypal—that isn’t perfect or pretty but that is real, profound, and meaningful.
To create anything of meaning, you need to explore the undercurrent.
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