Stories Of Change - Why Elevators Needed Humans First

Stories of Change is a special series from The Inner Game of Change.

In this series, I explore stories from history, business, science, education, and sometimes from unexpected places.

Some stories are famous. Many are not.

Together, we will uncover the lessons hidden inside them and what they can teach us about change, leadership, human behaviour, innovation, trust, learning, and adaptation.

 In this first episode of Stories of Change, we explore what elevators, trust, adoption, and artificial intelligence might have in common, and why every generation has its own version of the rope. 

Transcript

Why Stories Teach Change

Ali 0:04

Welcome to Stories of Change. Over the years I have become fascinated by stories. Not because they tell us what happened, but because they help us understand why it happened. In this series I will share stories from history, business, science, education, and sometimes from unexpected places. Together we will explore the lessons hidden inside them and what they can teach us about change, leadership, human behavior, and the world we live in today. The story is interesting, the pattern is useful, the lesson is where the value lives. So let's begin.

Elevators And A Hidden Lesson

Ali 0:48

Today's story is about elevators. I know, that might not sound particularly exciting. No kings, no battles, no famous CEOs, just elevators. But hidden inside the story is one of the most important lessons about change that I have ever come across.

Otis Cuts The Rope

Ali 1:09

Imagine standing in a crowd in New York in eighteen fifty four. You're looking up at a platform suspended high above the ground. Standing on that platform is a mechanic and inventor named Elisha Otis. Around him is a crowd, curious, skeptical, and probably wondering whether this is a very good idea. At the time lifting platforms already existed. Factories used them, warehouses used them, but there was one major problem. If the rope snapped, the platform fell. And that fear was not irrational. If you were standing on a platform suspended by a single rope, concern was probably the appropriate response. Otis believed he has solved the problem. He had invented a safety mechanism that would stop the platform crashing if the rope broke. But there was a challenge. The technology worked, people simply did not trust it. And that is where the story becomes interesting. Because Otis understood something many leaders still struggle to understand today. Evidence alone does not create trust. So instead of explaining the invention, he demonstrated it. Standing on the platform in front of the crowd he ordered the rope to be cut. Imagine that moment. The rope is severed, the platform drops, the crowd gasps, then suddenly it stops. The safety mechanism catches. Otis remains standing. Safe. The demonstration was a success, and with it came a lesson that extends far beyond elevators. People often need visible safety before they are willing to adopt invisible logic. Think about that for a moment. People often need visible safety before they are willing to adopt invisible logic. The engineering mattered, the invention mattered, but what changed people's minds was seeing it work, seeing the risk, seeing the protection, seeing the outcome.

Why Adoption Stalls At Work

Ali 3:40

I think this matters because organizations often assume that if something is useful, people will automatically embrace it. We launch a new process, a new system, a new technology, a new way of working. Then we wonder why adoption is slower than expected. Maybe people are still looking at the rope. Maybe they are asking questions. What happens if this fails? What happens if I make a mistake? What happens if I look foolish? What happens if I trust this and it lets me down? Those questions are not resistance, they are part of how humans assess risk. There's another part of the story that many people forget.

The Elevator Operator As Trust

Ali 4:29

Even after elevators became safer, people were still uncomfortable using them. So another solution emerged, the elevator operator. For many years elevators had a person standing inside of them, opening the doors, closing the doors, operating the controls, helping passengers. Most people assumed they were there to operate machinery. I think they were doing something far more important. They were operating trust. They were the human bridge between unfamiliar technology and the people being asked to use it. And every major change seems to create its own version of the elevator operator. A manager, a mentor, a trusted colleague, a change champion, someone willing to go first, someone who helps others cross the gap. The technology may be ready, but people still need someone they trust.

AI Brings The Same Trust Fears

Ali 5:34

And that brings me to today, because I think we are seeing something similar with artificial intelligence. The technology is moving incredibly quickly, but beneath all the excitement the questions remain remarkably human. Can I trust this? What happens if it gets something wrong? Will my expertise still matter? What am I responsible for? Those are not technology questions, they are trust questions. And a trust takes time. People rarely become confident because they attended a briefing session. They become confident because they try something, they see it work, they learn where it helps, they learn where it doesn't, develop judgment, gain experience, in other words they stop looking at the rope. That is why I often say adoption does not rise to the level of ambition. It rises to the level of design. Trust is not built through announcements. Trust is built through experience. This is one final part of the elevator story that I love. Today we step into elevators without thinking. We do not study the engineering, we do not wonder whether the cable will hold. We simply step in, press a button and move. The technology disappeared into everyday life. The fear disappeared, but the trust remained. Looking back it is easy to smile at people who were nervous about elevators, but every generation has its own elevator, something unfamiliar, something promising, something that raises questions, something that people are not quite sure they trust yet. Today, for many people, that might be artificial intelligence. Tomorrow it will be something else. The challenge was never the elevator. The challenge was helping people trust a new way of moving. Every meaningful change faces the same challenge. Not introducing the future, helping people believe they can safely step into it. Because change has truly arrived when people step in, press the button and move without needing to think about the rope anymore.

Find The Rope In Your Organisation

Ali 8:03

So here is my question for you. What is the rope in your organization right now? What is the thing that people are being asked to trust before they have seen enough evidence that it is safe? I'd love you to reflect on that. Until next time, stay curious. The story is interesting, the pattern is useful, the lesson is where the value lives.