For a long time we have been using the advantages of the digital world every day in our private lives – we organize half of our lives with just one tool, the smartphone, and we have adapted our behaviour accordingly. Professionally, we are also increasingly digitizing, but our working methods have been the same for almost 100 years. AI is increasing the pressure on companies to modernize. But even the best technology won’t help if you don’t know how to use it successfully. Digital collaboration – better called “digital co-creation” – on a platform is the key to success.

Adapt

As a rule, complexity increases with the degree of connectivity. It is the number of relationships and possible interactions that are difficult to predict or assess. Highly connected systems can suddenly behave very different from what is expected, and plans have to be discarded more quickly than there is time to draw up new plans. With a high degree of connectivity, the ability to coordinate effectively and experiment is better than long-term planning.

Our working methods need to adapt by focusing more on adaptability and trial & error than on division of labor and control to increase efficiency.

Critical Thinking

Complex issues can often be ambiguous and do not allow for simple solutions. In order to react quickly to changes, some people succumb to the temptation to come up with a quick solution: “It’s easy! Let’s not make it complicated!” However, such an approach can lead to trivializing problems. When complexity is high, critical thinking in systems is required. Critical systems thinking takes into account

• the density of connectivity,
• the influence of spontaneous activity,
• vicious circles and
• build-up effects (circular excitation) in systems

instead of only looking for linear-causal relationships for problems.

Observe

Higher speed – and therefore indirectly an increase of productivity, as well – is not achieved by impatience itself to quickly get going. That easily can turn into actionism. Higher speed results from a favorable starting position – just like René Descartes: “Those who walk very slowly but always follow the right path can get much further than those who run and go astray.”

In complex environments, impartial observation and active listening are more important than quick judgment and evaluation. It creates favorable conditions for understanding what needs to be done (and what efforts don’t create value). Observing a situation closely also strengthens the above mentioned adaptability and critical thinking in systems.

Accelerate

In an environment that is not only complex, but also volatile and disruptive, it is not only the speed itself that matters, but also the speed in which the necessary speed is achieved. Albert Einstein stated decades ago: “Complex problems can never be solved with the same mindset that created them.” In a complex environment, solutions therefore almost inevitably have to be complex. Today, however, too much time passes before a complex project is even started. The reaction time itself becomes a critical success factor. This is where the use of generative AI is of paramount importance to increase efficiency.

Digital co-creative collaboration

These four demands on our work – adapting, critical thinking, observing and accelerating – require an evolution of our working methods triggered by the 4th and also the 5th Industrial Revolution. Digital co-creative collaboration is the lever – the enabler. The true benefits of digitalization and Generative AI can be unleashed through digital co-creative collaboration.

The following requirements should be met in a work management platform for the implementation of digital co-creative collaboration:

• Topic-focused communication on cards, like in a helpdesk application, but where assignment to co-creators (instead of “employees”) is configured in advance.
• Integrated Meeting Management, which enables continuous alignment via the cards on the meeting agenda.
• Embedding individual work organization through personal notebooks embedded in the work management platform.
• Integration of chat functionality that ensures a direct link to the cards.
• Integration of a sophisticated digital whiteboard on which work management cards can be processed.

The following prerequisites could be created for the integration of generative AI:

• Direct preferential processing of all work management platform content by generative AI.
• Training of AI agents relevant to the specific business model (e.g. legal agent, sales agent, planning agent, etc.) for efficient response time and process performance.
• Connecting cloud-based generative AI services with up-to-date information from the internet.

Without configuring digital co-creative collaboration in a company-wide work management system, the actual benefits of digitalization and generative AI can be sobering for companies.