Three Creatives, Three Mindsets, One Lesson

I recently attended the New North Summit, and I sat in a breakout session with a pair of entrepreneurs who own a mocktail bar and bookstore. When a question came up about how they use AI, their answer was essentially, “Not at all.” They were concerned about what AI means for artists, authors, and creatives, and one of them even said she worried their business might get “cancelled” if she used it in her work.

A few days earlier, I met a tattoo artist at a StartUp Wisconsin event who had a similar concern. She was thoughtful and cautious about the implications for artists, but she also recognized that AI could help her run the business side of her work more efficiently.

Then this weekend, I chatted with the videographer who handles our at-track motorsports videography. He told me he uses Adobe's built-in AI tools to cut his editing time dramatically and produce better work under tight deadlines.

Those three conversations were all about AI, but they were three very different conversations.

This is a part I think leaders miss when they talk about rollout friction. Some people are afraid. Some are skeptical for valid reasons. Some are already finding real value. And some are carrying a mix of bias, misinformation, principled resistance, curiosity, and practical need all at once.

When an enterprise rollout stalls, it is usually not because people “didn’t get trained.” It is because they are in very different emotional and functional places, and the rollout strategy did not meet them there.

The real work is not convincing everyone to feel the same way about AI. It is helping each group see what is true for their work, their values, and their risk tolerance.

The real work is not convincing everyone to feel the same way about AI. It is helping each group see what is true for their work, their values, and their risk tolerance. If you’re seeing that kind of split in your organization, book a quick call with me and we’ll figure out the next right move.