By Eric Francia
How would you handle a junior employee questioning the way you’ve always done something? Might you roll your eyes and dismiss their comments as naivety? Or would you indulge their curiosity?
As AI has made knowledge accessible on a scale never seen before, companies are becoming leaner and operating faster. What once took a large team months to do can now be done by a handful of people in a few days.
It is undeniable that autonomous systems are changing the way we work. In the small and dynamic teams of the future, choosing the right humans to direct your AI systems will become make or break for a company.
As a six-time founder, I’ve learned the best workplaces are the ones where questioning things is the norm. Here’s how to build a team that questions orders as much as it obeys them.
AI by design
“AI by design” doesn’t only mean building the right autonomous systems. It’s also about creating autonomous humans. You need to trust the human in the loop as much as you do the technology. The team around you ultimately shapes the company in ways you can’t control. So surrounding yourself with people you trust to make decisions when you’re not in the room is critical to success.
The nature of job roles is changing. A job description can be totally different from the one advertised by the time you’ve found a candidate, and a six-month roadmap is outdated by the time you’ve finished drawing it up.
The World Economic Forum has stated that 59% of employees will need to reskill by 2030 as AI reshapes the workplace. Hiring for a fixed set of skills won’t move the needle. The people worth investing in are those who are able to learn what comes next.
Hire for curiosity
Curiosity is the best trait you can hire for. When I look at a CV, it’s not just experience or academic credentials that draw me in. I look for what people have built on the side. What have they made on their own initiative?
Hire for curiosity, and you’ll create an environment where people are willing to throw new ideas around and challenge outdated ways of doing things. If your team is worried about saying the wrong thing, they won’t end up saying the right thing either.
In a world where technology is turning everything on its head, the companies that will thrive are the ones with curious people who are able to adapt to change quickly.
Hand over real responsibility
Employees with autonomy operate faster. They make better decisions because company vision is not abstract to people who are given real responsibility to drive it. Being involved in strategic direction stitches an employee into the fabric of the company and keeps them engaged.
Trust your employees to know what isn’t working. Allow people to pursue new ideas and reinvent things. Your employees are likely to spot potential problems before you do when they’re closer to the product. Make sure your team has the autonomy to try to fix them before they take hold.
Boredom is a big business risk
As companies become smaller, employee retention is more important than ever. Losing your best people is costlier when you have fewer of them to begin with.
The effects of a bored employee surface quickly in a small team. Boredom makes talented people a little bit slower, and a lot less likely to try the difficult thing.
The challenge for modern leaders is keeping your team engaged and interested. A bored employee is more likely to be swayed by a flattering LinkedIn recruiter.
Make sure to invest in development, keep your team learning, and always encourage curiosity. Give people autonomy and responsibility from the beginning, and boredom has nowhere to take hold. The mentality of risk and the drive to challenge something outdated is what you need to succeed in the changing work environment.
Dare to be a beginner, and teach your team to do the same. That junior employee questioning how you’ve always done things could be the most valuable person in the room.
Eric Francia is co-founder and CEO of Stockholm-based Uniplay, an agent-driven, game-based learning platform. He has experience building, exiting and scaling digital companies across 70 countries. Uniplay is his sixth company to date.
Illustration: Dom Guzman
