Welcome to the era of AI-driven business! The world is changing at an unprecedented pace, and your business needs to keep up. But, there’s one thing that might hold you back: the Dinosaur Operator.
What’s a Dinosaur Operator? Well, they are managers that resist change and progress, and are afraid of technology. They like things the way they were, they believe in their personal experience and how they did things in the past. They wish it was the 1980’s again and don’t understand why in today’s world that we have to change how we has always done things.
They don’t embrace data to make decisions, and they shy away from accountability. You might have one of them in your organization – they are the ones who are always having issues with their phones and computers. They still prefer and lobby for paper processes because they don’t like technology but don’t be fooled, paper processes also allow them to fly under the radar and makes it harder for them to be held accountable.
The hallmark of a Dinosaur Operator is to lobby against any new systems or processes that will expose them. They won’t come out and say that they don’t want more accountability, visibility, or data. They are not stupid; they understand that the quickest way to get fired is to directly argue against such things. Instead, they come up with arguments that achieve their goals without coming out and saying that more data, accountability, and visibility are bad. They might say that there is too much change happening right now, or that if you hold teams to higher standards, they will just quit. They will reference a lack of bandwidth at the locations for something new.
The problem with Dinosaur Operators is that technology is moving faster than ever before, especially with the invention of AI. AI is going to drive technology adoption and all of its benefits at a breakneck pace, and organizations that don’t embrace it and implement it are going to get left in the dust.
At OpsAnalitica, we believe that AI adoption is going to be one of the fastest technological adoptions in the history of operations management. AI adoption won’t be spurred forward by the AI companies and salespeople; it will be demanded by customers.
Let me clarify, customers aren’t going to fill out comment cards and say please implement AI. No, they are going to demand more and more service, more excellence in execution, better experiences, etc. They aren’t going to put up with mediocre service from some brands when certain competitors are raising their game substantially using predictive analytics and AI to identify and solve issues before they affect customers. They want the value and service that they get at the top best in class brands in the world at every business they use, and they don’t care if it is really hard for you to do because its your job to be better and figure it out.
Better experiences driven by AI is what they are going to demand, and let’s be super clear about this, they aren’t going to tell you on your customer survey, they are going to vote with their feet. Inflation has driven the cost of everything up super high, but people are anchored to what they used to pay. If you are going to make them pay more then they are going to demand more.
Imagine a world where one or two competitors in every vertical adopt AI and start predicting issues and fixing them before they affect customers. Those companies are going to do such a better job than everyone else in their space that their customers are going to reward them with more sales and profits.
I can’t tell you how many of my peers that I speak with that are fed up paying more for less service, smaller portions, worse interactions. I personally used to give businesses 3 chances, now I’m down to one. Because of the economy we are spending less, and we are cutting out every business that is just ok. If you are getting our dollars right now it’s because you continue to wow us.
This is why we say that Dinosaur Operators, managers that try to maintain the status quo, are the biggest threat to your business that you have today. Our guess is that you are going to see a massive reordering of the biggest brands in every space over the next couple of years. Young upstart brands will overtake older more established brands seemingly overnight as these new brands are growing with new technologies instead of fighting them.
If you’re a leader of a company, pay attention to your team members that are lobbying for more technology, accountability, visibility, and data. Also, pay attention to the ones that are lobbying against it, not by words but by their actions. There is no place for a team member in the 2020s that is not pushing for more data, accountability, visibility, and AI within your organization.
In conclusion, don’t let Dinosaur Operators hold your business back from success. Embrace new technologies, implement AI-driven solutions, and stay ahead of the competition. The future is bright, but it’s up to you to seize the opportunities it offers.