INTRODUCTION
CHANGE IS HARD
Change is scary. Change is painful. This is even more true when change isexponential, as it has been, as it is, and as it will continue to be in the Age of AI.
You are reading this book because you’re part of a team leading your bank, credit union, or fintech on a journey of exponential growth. Perhaps you’re a mortgage lender or financial advisor who recognizes that the world around you is undergoing exponential change, so you are looking for clarity and a path forward beyond all the confusion, chaos, and complexity of the present moment. Or maybe you’re reading this right now because you’re a gifted executive leader or entrepreneur, and someone you trust recommended this book to help you guide your team and organization through exponential change.
Although I wrote this book especially for those in banking and financial services, the ideas and insights you’ll find through the following chapters can, in fact, be applied to any industry experiencing exponential change, from education and healthcare to manufacturing and retail services. That’s because none of us can escape the exponential changes we are experiencing in the Age of AI.
The good news:with exponential change comes new opportunities for exponentialgrowth.
WHAT IS EXPONENTIAL GROWTH?
In the Age of AI, it’s important that we pause and take the time to really ponder this question. Let’s start with what we know beyond a shadow of doubt: we are already experiencing exponential change, and it’s bound to continue. Change can feel uncomfortable, to put it mildly. We were all reminded of this in a fundamental way when the COVID-19 pandemic swept the country and the whole world in 2020, throwing many of our previously held assumptions—about work, health, and much more—into question.
But on the flip side, exponential change presents us with opportunities to grow in ways we never thought possible both personally and professionally. The two must be addressed at the same time because when you’re struggling on a personal level, whatever you’re going through is very likely to impact you professionally. And vice versa.
While COVID-19 ushered in what some call “The Great Reset,” I have observed a great awakening in human potential—rooted in human transformation—as one of the greatest lessons among many to emerge from the COVID era in that our personal and professional lives are no longer independent of each other. Of course, this trend was already evident to many of us, at least in business circles. But now it’s clearer than ever that the days of work–life balance are over. Rather, the name of the game is work–lifeintegration, brought about in large part by the rise of digital tools and technologies that, for better or worse, have created always-on, 24-7 access. But what exactly is “work–life integration”? As Stephen Kohler, CEO and founder of Audira Labs, notes: “Work–life balance is focused on keeping your work life and your personal life separate, but equal, whereas work–life integration is centered on the belief that there is no distinction between the two and that both must coexist in harmony.”
Sometimes this blending of personal and professional lives can create friction, frustration, and conflict, and these feelings are amplified when the world around us is going through exponential change. I have struggled with adapting to the confusing, chaotic new landscape, and in the pages ahead I will share my own story of navigating exponential change. As you will see in my journey—as well as those of numerous financial brand leaders whom I spoke to for this book—exponential change does pose new, often extreme challenges. It’s important to remember that exponential change also presents us with exciting opportunities for exponential growth.
As a digital anthropologist studying the intersection of marketing, sales, technology, and human behavior through the lens of financial services and banking, the ongoing exponential changes in the Age of AI have been my primary focus and area of study for the past two decades now. Over this time, what I’ve observed and concluded, beyond any shadow of doubt, is when it comes to the inherent chaos and complexity of exponential change,the greatest challenges for financial brands are rooted not in technology but in human behavior.
Consider for a moment that historically 60 to 85 percent of all digital transformation initiatives at a global level have either failed completely or at least failed to meet expectations. These dismal numbers don’t reflect problems with the technology. Instead, t