What If the Next Big Tool at Work Isn’t About the Tool at All?
AI tools are now widely available, but most organisations are struggling to turn access into impact. The gap between what’s possible and what’s actually happening is significant. Consider the following:
This data provides an insight for leaders across most sectors, not just L&D: most organisations don’t have an AI tool problem.
Consider the following:
- Only one-third of organisations have scaled AI beyond pilot projects, despite widespread access to tools.
Source: McKinsey, The State of AI - 74% of full-time workers say they use AI at work, but only 33% have received formal AI training, highlighting a major confidence and capability gap.
Source: Gallup / Lifewire workplace AI research - 90% of senior data leaders believe employees are using AI without approval (“shadow AI”), showing a disconnect between leadership assumptions and actual behaviour.
Source: Deloitte, enterprise AI governance research - 71% of AI adopters say AI has already changed the skills required in their role, reinforcing that mindset and learning matter more than tools.
Source: Deloitte, AI and the Workforce - Teams with high psychological safety are significantly more likely to experiment and innovate with new technology, directly linking trust to innovation outcomes.
Source: Harvard Business Review, psychological safety research
They have a trust, mindset, and learning culture problem. Solving that starts with understanding the link between growth mindset and innovation.
Innovation Fails Without Trust
At the Learning Leaders conference in Orlando the session on Work: Integrating AI & Growth Mindset for Impact wasn’t a typical AI session. It was about people and offered a different perspective. Tools don’t fail. Trust does.
The success of any new initiative, especially AI, depends on belief. Do employees trust the purpose? Do they feel safe to try, to fail, to learn? Think about your organisation – do you have an environment where employees can try, learn and fail?
Without trust, curiosity fades. Without curiosity, innovation stalls. And without a foundation of growth mindset and innovation, adoption efforts rarely take hold. It is easy to talk about innovation but developing the platform for innovation to actually happen is harder and to enable people to take their ideas to managers and leaders for potential development.
Growth Mindset: The Missing Infrastructure
We often assume people have a growth mindset. That they want to learn, explore, adapt. But that assumption is risky. A growth mindset is not automatic, even in leadership.
It is foundational. It is the foundation that allows experimentation, questioning, and curiosity to develop. And when paired with interest in AI, the results are striking. Research shared at the session showed that individuals who are both curious about AI and have a growth mindset demonstrate significantly higher levels of innovative thinking.
Think of it like a garden. Curiosity is the seed. Trust is the sunlight. Growth mindset and innovation flourish when both are present.
Why “Just Add AI” Fails
Many organisations are deploying AI tools without a clear plan. No purpose. No strategy. No support.
One delegate said it best: “I’ve heard people say ‘write better prompts’, but I don’t even know what’s a prompt, what’s a tool, or where to begin.”
This prompted a reflection from Scott Hewitt, who asked:
“There’s a widespread belief that organisations and individuals are already making advanced use of AI, but in reality people are at wildly different levels. Some are not using AI at all. Are we overestimating where our people actually are?”
He went on to note how fear plays a significant role.
“While there’s concern about shadow AI, the bigger issue might be that many people are avoiding AI altogether because they’re genuinely frightened of it. Is that fear really about the tech itself, or is it tied to job security and digital confidence?”
The problem isn’t AI. It is the lack of clarity, connection, and context. The discussion in the session was interesting. People were key to use AI, and also ‘knew’ that they needed to use AI within their organisation but didn’t know where to start. It was fine to read articles and see sessions, but they needed practical support about what to do. Sessions like this were an ideal start for leaders. There is a view that leaders new about AI, because they were leaders.
Ask This First: What Problem Are We Solving?
The session offered one simple but essential question: What problem are we trying to solve?
It sounds basic. But too often, organisations roll out tools without alignment on that question. When teams are unclear, good intentions lead to chaos. One team may think it’s about productivity. Another sees it as a coaching tool. Another worries it’s surveillance. No shared goal means no shared success.
And as Scott Hewitt raised during the discussion:
“Are we assuming digital capability is fixed and that everyone needs to be at the same level? Because most people only use a small percentage of what tech can do. Just like with spreadsheets. Should we be asking whether everyone actually needs to use AI the same way at all?”
These assumptions need to be questioned early, or the rollout risks becoming misaligned from the start.
The Employee Who Got Ignored
One story stood out. A long-serving employee used a new AI tool to cut customer complaints in half and speed up response times. But the leadership dismissed it. They couldn’t believe someone in his position could come up with a breakthrough.
So he left. He took his idea to a competitor. They adopted it, scaled it, and thrived.
The original company lost out. Not because of the idea, but because of a fixed mindset at the top.
From Overwhelmed to Empowered
If AI still feels overwhelming, start small.
Try micro-experiments:
- Summarise a dense article
- Simplify a long email
- Brainstorm ideas using a clearly defined expert role
Build familiarity. Build confidence. Build trust at your own pace.
Use AI at home if work feels too high stakes. Plan a trip, write a recipe, solve a home DIY problem. The more you play, the more capable and comfortable you become.
Key Takeaways from the Session
Here’s what stood out from the conversation:
- Mindset drives everything. Growth mindset fuels learning, adaptability, and innovation.
- Trust is not optional. It is the foundation for adoption and experimentation.
- AI is not the strategy. It supports strategy, but only if people understand the problem being solved.
- Small wins matter. Micro-experiments build confidence and spark momentum.
- Don’t assume people are ready. Curiosity, caution, and reluctance all exist, and that is okay.
- Digital ability is uneven. People are not all starting from the same place. That has to be understood and respected.
To bridge the gap between technology and impact, organisations must prioritise growth mindset and innovation as cultural foundations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is a growth mindset important for innovation?
A growth mindset encourages people to try, learn, and improve without fear of failure. Innovation depends on experimentation. When people feel safe to test ideas and make mistakes, they are more likely to explore new tools like AI and turn them into real impact.
What are the 4 C’s of innovation?
The 4 C’s are Curiosity, Creativity, Collaboration, and Confidence. Curiosity drives questions, creativity generates ideas, collaboration improves them, and confidence helps people act. All four rely on trust and a growth mindset to work effectively in organisations.
What is the relationship between innovation and growth?
Innovation drives growth by improving how work gets done, solving problems faster, and creating new value. Growth supports innovation by giving people time, skills, and confidence to experiment. Without learning and development, innovation efforts often stall or fail.
What are the 5 core skills of innovation?
The core skills are curiosity, problem-solving, learning agility, collaboration, and adaptability. These skills help people experiment, use tools like AI effectively, and respond to change. A growth mindset strengthens all five by encouraging continuous learning.
