Speaker 1: Hello Habit Mechanics .
It's Dr John Finn here.
I hope you're having a great week so far.
So this is part three of our how to Become a Human AI Coach
mini-series, where we're going a bit deeper into some of the
later chapters in our new book Train your Brain for the AI
Revolution the proven four, four step system to become
irreplaceable, no tech skills required.
And our overarching point in this little mini series, but
also in the book, is, if we want to capitalise on the amazing
opportunities that ai revolution holds or can potentially
deliver for us individually and collectively, we need to move
away from this tech-centric approach and have a more human
centric approach to it.
It's not the tools themselves that are going to make the
difference.
It's how humans are able to use them and actually how humans
are able to continue developing them.
And that's what we've been talking about in the first two
parts of of this mini series, and we've been spotlighting the
role of human AI coaches.
When we train people to become human AI coaches, we call it
becoming a certified hand mechanic AI edge coach and this
I think that that profession will become the most important
profession for our species, if it isn't already, and hopefully
what you've seen in the last two parts is that, although
cognitive performance might sound a little bit intangible,
what human AI coaches do is very tangible, is very impactful.
Tangible is very impactful and is vital if individuals and
organizations want to become successful.
And in part three we can kind of zoom out a little bit here
and think about this at an organizational level.
The chapter I'm going to share with you is called, so it's
chapter 28, and it's understanding brain states at
scale, creating brain state intelligent cultures.
There's a few things I want to get into here.
First of all, big, compelling sets of data show that 74% of
companies are failing I'm just reading this out are failing to
extract meaningful value from their ai investments, and new
research from um, bcg and the world economic forum shows the
the primary reason for that failure is not the technology,
it's people.
That is the barrier and it's not people's fault.
It's just that people are mentally fatigued and they're
cognitively overloaded.
So we're not going to get the growth in our economies that we
desperately need if we want to have the countries that we want,
that we want to have and the schools and the education
systems and get the pay rises that we want if our businesses
can't grow and the main thing that's currently holding
businesses back from growing is that they're not able to
capitalise on this new AI technology because people are,
frankly, burnt out, they're tired, they're fatigued, they're
overloaded, and the way that we can just break that down into
simple terms is that people's brain states balance is not good
.
They're not doing enough recharge, they're sucked into
too much medium charge.
That means they can't get into high chargecharge brain states.
So if businesses want to succeed, they're going to have
to help their people to improve their cognitive performance,
improve how they manage brain states, and that means they have
to address this at the cultural level.
And I know that word culture can sometimes feel intangible, and
for me, understanding language is always easiest when we go
back to the genesis of things like what?
Where does that word come from?
Well, culture just is from the word cultivate, which is a latin
word which is to do with agriculture.
Right, it's to do with farming and cultivating the land so you
can grow your crops, and the that word has been borrowed into
hr or human performance fields to explain the culture in a, an
organization and a team in a particular group of people.
So the culture should cultivate the behaviors that are most
helpful for that group of people .
And the way that I think about this is that, if we just take a
business, for example, think of it like a farm and we've got
these people on our farm and we're trying to grow them and
we're trying just because it creates a really vivid visual
we're trying to grow them and we're trying to help them to
flourish, we're trying to nourish them and nurture them to
be able to do that.
But actually, if we want to get this right, we need to go a
level deeper.
It's not the people that are actually trying to grow, it's
our habits, because habits drive what we think and what we do.
So think about on the farm.
We've got these habits that are planted in the soil and the
culture the sun, the rain, the weather conditions, the soil
type, the treatments that we apply to the crop, if you like,
the crop of habits.
That's what a culture does.
So if cultures are toxic, you know they're killing the habits
and actually they're nurturing the wrong behaviours, the wrong
habits.
So I think that's just a really simple way to think about what
a culture is.
So If we then think about the language of this chapter, which
is very deliberate understanding brain states at scale, creating
brain state intelligent cultures.
What does that mean?
It means that we create cultures that help everybody to
understand their brain states, to become more intelligent about
them.
So, those who are familiar with the Habit Mechanic book, we
talk about habit mechanic intelligence and, if we were
going to go a step deeper than that, actually everything in the
habit mechanic approach is built on brain state
intelligence.
So, first, understanding how our brain works and then
understanding that it's literally like a battery and it
has these three core operating states and I think, the
businesses of the future that that succeed, that offer great
places to work, where people are engaged and they're healthy and
they're happy and they're doing great work and there's a great
mutual relationship between uh, the individual, the people and
the organization where everyone's winning that they
will primarily focus on creating cultures that optimize brain
state intelligence, so people understand brain state
intelligence individually and collectively.
And then there are experts in the organization.
There are human AI coaches at the individual level, but there
are also human AI trainers who are training up teams.
There are human AI consultants who are working at a strategic
level, and they're all, of course, things that we do and we
train other people to do.
And I think that a really interesting parallel of where
human ai sorry, brain state intelligence cultures fit is how
Six Sigma or Lean Sigma 6 operated, probably 20, 30 years
ago, where it emerged in the manufacturing sectors, where
essentially what happened was that having fancy manufacturing
machines weren't a competitive advantage anymore if we wanted
to delight our customers.
What we had to do is make not just make products more cheaply
using these big fancy machines, but we had to do it really
efficiently and effectively.
And where lean sigma 6 came in was it created some efficient
and effective processes of making sure that businesses
could create products that delighted their customers faster
.
And of course, a company like toyota was a good example of
that.
They just created these products at a good price.
That people wanted cars that didn't really break down.
They were known to be reliable because they had this great
Sigma 6 type process, which I think they called something a
little bit different.
And then we had people like Jack Welsh, the famous CEO of GE
, being a real champion of that.
One of the reasons why 6 Sigma was so interesting was because
they had this very structured training program throughout
organizations where they had this belt system.
So, like learning martial arts, you would progress in your
skills and your understanding through this gradation system,
and that's exactly what we've created for our Habit Mechanic
AI Edge model, where we can grade people.
We can give people different belts for different levels of
competency, because we understand that if businesses
want to make this really successful, they need to
properly invest the time and money into upskilling their
people in this.
It can't be piecemeal, it needs to be robust.
And if we just go back to those so the 74% of businesses are
failing to capitalize on the benefits of AI.
The few that businesses that are where are they investing all
their money?
It's not in the tech, it's in their people.
They're.
They're investing at least two-thirds of the of their AI
focused investments into people.
The reason those companies are doing well is because actually,
they're more tech-orientated companies and they've been using
AI, as everyone is currently calling it, in one way or
another for probably over 15 years now on average.
So they've had a lot longer to develop workforces that have the
time to really understand how to get the most out of these
tools and systems, whereas the ones that are, I think, the
businesses that are failing.
They're thinking the AI tools are magical in themselves and
they're not the people need to be able to use them.
So, yeah, so I think that brain state intelligent cultures are
going to be the cultures that win, that create workplaces
where people are healthy, happy, engaged and businesses that are
successful, and I think that human ai coaches will be central
to making that happen inside organizations, but we'll also
have human AI trainers and people working at a more
strategic level and, of course, we train people to do all of
those things, and you can do it in a really structured way by
following our belt system.
But I think enough of that, so let's go to the chapter.
So, again, this is chapter 28, and remember, you can, if you
want to listen to this in the full context of train your brain
for the AI revolution our new book.
If you want to listen to this in the full context of Train
your Brain for the AI Revolution our new book, you can do that
inside the Hampton Mechanic University app and you can also
listen to the audiobook on most mainstream audiobook platforms
right now.
So here's the chapter, chapter 28.
Understanding Brain States at Scale Creating Brain State
Intelligent Cultures.
As we conclude our exploration of brain states and AI
integration, let's step back and examine a transformative
opportunity that few organizations have yet
recognized.
Throughout this book, we've focused on optimizing your
individual cognitive performance .
In doing so, we've revealed something profound about
happiness in the AI era.
It's not just about using technology to get more done.
It's about using it strategically to create the
right mix of recharge routine work and high impact, high value
work that allows you to do your job and live your life in a way
that leads to lasting satisfaction.
Now let's understand how these same principles can
revolutionise entire organisations by unleashing
healthy, happy and high-performing workforces.
As artificial intelligence transforms business, a powerful
opportunity is emerging.
Organisations can dramatically improve performance by aligning
work patterns with how human brains naturally function.
This quickly creates measurable improvements by helping teams
to complete key projects over 200% faster.
This is only possible when organizations optimize how their
people perform alongside powerful AI tools.
This optimization comes through creating what we call brain
state intelligent cultures, which is our Six Sigma for human
performance in the AI era.
But to successfully create these winning cultures, we need
to first consider the barriers, the current state of play.
Ai is transforming business at an unprecedented pace.
According to the World Economic Forum's recent Future of Jobs
report, 86% of companies expect AI to revolutionise their
operations.
Yet this transformation brings serious challenges.
Successful AI adoption isn't just about deploying new
technology.
It requires a fundamental shift in how humans and AI
collaborate.
Many organisations underestimate the cognitive toll
this shift takes on their workforce.
The cognitive demands of rapid technological change and our
increasingly volatile, uncertain , complex and ambiguous world
are pushing employees to their cognitive limits, leading to a
cascade of business risks.
Employee engagement nosedives under relentless cognitive
strain.
Mental fatigue surges as workers struggle to keep up with
constant technological change.
Learning capacity collapses under information overload,
stalling critical projects.
Team effectiveness deteriorates as digital overload fragments
communication and collaboration.
Innovation grinds to a halt when employees can't maintain
deep, focused thinking.
Workplace wellbeing suffers, driving higher staff turnover
and making it harder to retain top talent.
Staff turnover and making it harder to retain top talent.
If businesses fail to address these cognitive challenges, the
consequences will be severe Declining productivity, stalled
innovation and an exodus of skilled employees.
The future of work isn't just about adopting AI.
It's about ensuring humans can thrive alongside it.
These challenges become particularly acute during major
organisational transformations.
As an example of the difficulties businesses face
during major transitions, let's consider mergers and
acquisitions.
Companies spend more than $2 trillion annually on M&A deals,
yet 70 to 90% fail to meet expectations.
While traditional analysis blames factors like poor
strategic fit or incorrect valuations, a deeper truth
emerges Combining cultures, systems and AI technologies
creates overwhelming cognitive demands that most organisations
aren't equipped to handle.
Without optimising brain states , even the most strategically
sound transformations can fail as people struggle to maintain
the focused thinking needed to implement complex change.
These observations aren't just theoretical.
They're built on my 25 years of developing a fundamentally
different approach to helping individuals, teams and leaders
optimise their cognitive performance during challenging
transitions.
Through working with over 20,000 people and completing my
PhD in this area, I've seen these challenges firsthand.
But I've also seen something else when organisations
understand how to optimise brain states, extraordinary
transformations become possible the power of first principles
thinking To appreciate what's possible.
Consider how sports science transformed physical athletic
performance 25 years ago.
I worked on the front lines of this revolution, watching as
teams abandoned traditional training approaches in favour of
methods based on how the human body actually functions.
The transformation wasn't about working harder.
It was about aligning training with the body's fundamental
mechanics.
Today we face a similar opportunity with cognitive
performance through brain state optimisation.
As I've shown throughout this book, over the past 25 years
we've developed a deep, proprietary understanding of how
to translate cutting-edge insights from neuroscience and
behavioural science into practical organizational change.
Just as sports scientists created systems that teams could
implement in their daily training, we've developed
methodologies that help businesses seamlessly integrate
brain science into their daily practices.
This systematic approach allows organizations to create
cultures where optimal cognitive performance becomes natural
rather than forced.
And just as sports science created a new standard for
athletic excellence, this integration of human cognitive
optimization with technological capability creates something
unprecedented in organisational performance what we call
brain-state intelligent cultures .
The result isn't just better performance.
It's the kind of environment where both people and technology
can work together at their best the Holy Grail Brain state
intelligent cultures.
I believe that teams and organisations that create these
cultures will thrive in the AI era, and therefore creating one
should be every business's number one goal.
In these environments, technology enhances rather than
overwhelms human capabilities, and sustainable high performance
emerges from aligning work with how brains actually function.
A brain state intelligent culture transforms performance
across every level of your organisation, from young
professionals to middle managers , senior leaders to teams.
Every group gains unique benefits from optimising their
brain states.
Let's explore the specific advantages for each Young
professionals become productive revenue drivers faster by
mastering complex skills and AI tools in months instead of years
.
Build long-term, sustainable high performance by managing
stress effectively, increasing their impact.
Stay engaged and grow within the company, improving retention
and maximising long-term potential.
Middle managers Drive faster AI adoption and ROI by confidently
leading change and turning resistance into measurable
productivity gains.
Deliver on strategic initiatives while maintaining
team performance, balancing competing demands without
burnout.
Create high-performing teams that consistently hit targets by
optimising both personal and collective productivity.
Senior leaders Make sharper strategic decisions for
longer-using, science-backed strategies from elite athletes
maintaining peak cognitive function throughout their
careers.
Drive successful AI transformation by mastering the
human factors that accelerate adoption and maximise ROI.
Create lasting cultural change that turns resistance into
enthusiasm, fostering sustained high performance across the
organisation.
Teams Deliver complex projects over 200% faster by optimising
collective brain function for breakthrough performance.
Brain function for breakthrough performance.
Maintain peak productivity during AI transformation by
aligning work patterns with natural energy cycles,
preventing costly burnout.
Drive faster innovation and problem solving by enabling
seamless collaboration across generations and skill levels.
These individual and team improvements combine to create
powerful organisational outcomes reduce burnout, lower staff
turnover, enhanced innovation, better talent retention and
improved customer solutions.
Most importantly, they create environments where people
genuinely want to stay and grow because they can consistently
perform at their best without sacrificing well-being.
This creates a powerful competitive advantage.
But achieving this transformation isn't a matter of
chance.
It requires a systematic understanding of how lasting
change happens in organisations.
The nine essential elements Just as Six Sigma transformed
manufacturing and quality management in the industrial era
, brain state intelligence will revolutionise human performance
in the AI era.
While Six Sigma optimised production processes, our nine
interconnected factors optimise something even more fundamental
how human brains function alongside AI technology.
Creating this brain state transformation requires
understanding these nine factors that behavioural science shows
drive sustainable change.
These factors work together like an orchestra.
Each instrument matters, but the real magic happens when they
play in harmony.
Here are the nine factors from our proprietary system.
I first introduced these in chapter 23.
1.
Brain State Optimization Creating Environments when
People Can Maintain Optimal Cognitive States.
2.
Habit Mechanic Mindset– Cultivating Belief in Continuous
Improvement.
3.
Tiny change factor making transformation manageable.
4.
Personal motivation connecting small changes to bigger personal
and professional goals.
5.
Personal knowledge and skills building individual capabilities
.
Personal knowledge and skills Building individual capabilities
.
6.
Community knowledge Developing shared practices.
7.
Social influence Leveraging natural behaviour spread.
8.
Rewards and penalties Aligning incentive systems with desired
behaviours.
9.
External triggers Designing supportive environments that
remind people how to be their best.
Building systematic change.
Creating a brain state intelligent culture requires
careful integration of all nine factors into daily
organisational practices.
This isn't about implementing isolated initiatives.
It's about building reinforcing cycles where each improvement
strengthens the others.
Organisations that master this systematic approach will achieve
breakthrough results, just as Six Sigma became the gold
standard for manufacturing excellence.
Looking forward, the AI revolution presents every
organisation with a choice Optimise how your people work
alongside these powerful tools or risk falling behind those who
do.
Leading organisations are already building brain state
intelligent cultures, setting new standards for what's
possible when human potential and technological capability
work in harmony.
The question isn't whether your organisation will need to make
this transition.
The question is will you be among the pioneers who lead this
change and create an insurmountable lead, or will you
get left behind?
I hope you.
I hope you found the chapter and the the mini series on how to
become a human ai coach interesting and hopefully
inspirational.
I know the idea of becoming a coach is very attractive to many
people, but for different reasons, people don't go there
with it.
But I just think that the AI revolution represents a
particularly interesting point in history where there's going
to be a bigger demand than possibly any other time in
history for not just coaches, but people that can help others
to optimize their cognitive performance, in other words, a
human ai becoming a human ai coach.
So if you are interested in training to become a human,
human ai coach, get in touch.
We can help you to do that.
If you're interested in what this might look like in your
business, get in touch.
We can have a conversation about that.
And then, of course, we will continue to talk about train
your brain for the ai revolution and everything connected to
that in coming podcasts.
This period of history is nothing to be scared about.
The key always is is to control the controllables, and the
thing that we can all control is getting better at managing our
own brain states.
And if it's appealing to you and you like that, you can also
start to practice helping others to get better at managing their
brain states.
And if it's appealing to you and you like that, you can also
start to practice helping others to get better at managing their
brain states, and you can build a thriving business out of that
, or you can just help others in the business that you're
currently working to improve their their cognitive
performance.
So that's all from me for now.
If you're like me, you'll probably re-listen to the three
episodes, because that's what I like to do, just to make sure
that I'm absorbing everything.
But again, remember, if you want to listen to the full book
Train your Brain for the AI Revolution, you can do that for
free inside the Hammond Mechanic University app and it's
available on most mainstream audiobook platforms.
Enjoy the rest of your day.