Peer to Peer Magazine

32 of an automobile. He did not simply improve on existing technolo, he created a more efficient one. What if Ford had forgone disruptive innovation for a comfortable variation? It was the incisive imagination of an innovative leader that brought about a change so monumental, it has become completely commodified and indispensable. Yet, for all the Henry Ford success stories, there are countless more of failure to change due to resistance-whether economic, political or discomfort. But resistance to new technologies may be waning based on, interestingly, our increasing adoption of technologies. In their 2018 book Type R: Transformative Resilience for Thriving in a Turbulent World, Ama Marston and Stephanie Marston introduce the Type R personality – a personification of those in our society who are built for change insomuch that they resiliently spring forward in the opportunities unearthed by it and welcome the change. They call this "Transformative Resilience" and make the case that this is the way of the future. They write, "This means revising the assumptions that we have lived by for years, starting with the stories we tell about change, adversity, and stress and the way we choose to frame them." 1 I posit that the ubiquity of emergent technologies, in the form of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and IoT found in our homes and hands, will bring about a paradigm shift in change responsiveness in the workplace, and thereby reshape our change management tactics – from tempering change resistance to nurturing change tolerance. Furthermore, as AI becomes more applicable in the workplace, it has the potential to create new roles and augment daily tasks. Counter to the initial reaction of anxiety speculating the loss of jobs, or the need for human beings to fill certain roles, we may come to find that organizational employees respond with receptivity to the various ways AI can make workplace operations easier and more efficient. What might drive this attitude adjustment toward change? Change - which continually shapes us by making us more resilient, more open to the opportunities born by it, and ultimately, more change tolerant. The Recent Spike in Change Durability When was the last time you were prompted by a device to perform an update? More than likely one of your devices has prompted, or rather forced, a change upon you in the last few days. Did you click "OK"? Did you click "Later"? One way or another, change has arrived and it is only a matter of time before you must accept it (and adapt to whatever alteration it brings). With IoT pulsing through our wearables, Smartphones, cars, and home appliances, change surrounds us and evolution abounds. AI technologies, such as those supporting virtual assistants are transforming homes into webbed networks of devices that will ultimately form a digital mesh of information sharing. The more our devices surround us, the more change to which we are subjected (new features, look and feel updates, loss of personal settings, etc.) Last month my cable provider decided it was time to change the entire user interface for my cable service. While I welcomed the sharper look, I was temporarily stunted by some of the functional changes, specifically where I could expect channel numbers to be displayed on the screen as I punched them in the remote control. The numbers now displayed on right side of the screen instead of the left side. I was totally blind to it at first, and wondering what I was doing wrong. More remarkably the point, I had no choice but to get used to the new location for the channel numbers, and move on. This experience improved my change durability. Constant small changes around us, by and through technolo, are immunizing us to fear of change – reducing our anxiety, increasing our adaptability, and fostering a new level of endurance. There may be a proportional relationship between the increase in changes and our ability to face them resiliently. If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses. — H E N R Y F O R D 1 https://www.amazon.com/Type-Transformative-Resil- ience-Thriving-Turbulent/dp/1610398068 2 https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/top-trends- in-the-gartner-hype-cycle-for-emerging-technologies-2017/ 3 https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/valuerealiza- tion/2014/06/30/evergreen-itgetting-the-most-value- trends-and-insights/ 4 http://www.clomedia.com/2018/04/05/ investing-automated-future/?mkt_tok=eyJpI- joiTW1FeE5qWXdNekJoT1dVMyIsInQiOiIrQWp0YX- JFM1hPbWN0NXdWZ2trSWVkcUpwb0pza0Y3R0FQeGtzNT- NFZGlxdldsUW5rTzVUVm5JNG5wWmFFTG9vMmQ2dlwvRVp- wOTlncnhKNkRTMXJnQ1dDQmVSejZobjZ5OUVsUGJ2RTkx- akQrSXAxZ1pHeXJ4a3NNTWE4OHZiNysifQ%3D%3D 5 https://www.iltanet.org/HigherLogic/System/DownloadDoc- umentFile.ashx?DocumentFileKey=a7d06c8f-7fa3-5172-d2a 1-6929f732277a&ssopc=1 6 https://www.benefitscanada.com/wp-content/ uploads/2017/11/HRPA-Report-Artificial- Intelligence-20171031.pdf 7 https://www.pwc.com/us/en/advisory-services/assets/ai- predictions-2018-report.pdf

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