AI Will Amplify Your Bad Working Habits: A Wake-Up Call for Leaders

The Promise vs. The Reality 

We've all heard the pitch: AI will take meeting minutes, search through your files, help you brainstorm, and transform workplace productivity. The technology is impressive, and the possibilities seem endless. 

But here's the uncomfortable truth: AI doesn't fix broken workflows—it amplifies them. 

The Meeting Minutes Trap 

Consider what's already happening in many organizations. Teams that once captured occasional meeting notes now generate 4-5 page summaries for every meeting—summaries that are "about 75% accurate." 

This creates two immediate problems: 

First, volume replaces value. Where teams once had manageable notes, they now face pages of AI-generated content to review. The promise of saved time evaporates when you need to read, verify, and edit extensive summaries for accuracy. 

Second, trust erodes. When AI-generated minutes become unreliable, they transform into noise. The information exists, but can you depend on it? Probably not without verification, which defeats the purpose. 

The Fragmented Information Crisis 

The problem compounds when teams lack structured ways of working. If your organization already struggles with information scattered across SharePoint, OneDrive, personal laptops, mailboxes, and various collaboration tools, AI won't solve this—it will make it exponentially worse. 

Here's why: Most AI tools can only access fragments of your information ecosystem. When a team member asks their AI assistant to "make a report of the status of the project," the AI can only work with what it can see—perhaps emails, but not shared files; maybe some documents, but not chat histories. 

The result? The AI produces reports based on incomplete, fragmented information. It's training itself on your bad data. 

This is what I call the first sin of low-quality information: AI trained on information created by us, amplifying the chaos of our unstructured work habits. 

Breaking the Cycle 

So what should leaders and AI implementation teams do? 

1. Fix Your Workflows Before Scaling AI 

The most critical step is also the simplest (though not easy): agree on a structured way of working across your team. 

This means: 

• Centralized, accessible information for everyone in the team, no more files scattered across personal drives. 

• A single source of truth (MS Teams channels, dedicated SharePoint sites, or other collaborative platforms) 

• Clear protocols for where different types of information live 

The rule: No files on OneDrive or laptops, no emailing file versions. If information needs to be shared, it goes in the team's designated space. 

2. Turn Off the Firehose 

Stop generating AI minutes for every meeting. This might sound counterintuitive, but less can be more. 

Instead, consider this approach: Have a team member spend the last few minutes of each meeting reviewing the AI-generated transcript together. Check for accuracy, make corrections, and agree on what actually matters. 

The investment of a few minutes during the meeting saves hours of post-meeting confusion and verification. 

3. Train for Quality, Not Just Features 

When training employees on AI tools, the focus shouldn't only be on what the tools can do. More importantly, teach them to understand that the quality of AI outputs hinges on the quality of the information it accesses. 

Help your teams recognize: 

• How fragmented information creates fragmented AI responses 

• Why structured workflows enable better AI performance 

• The importance of verification and critical thinking 

The Bottom Line 

AI is a powerful amplifier. It will make your good habits better and your bad habits worse. Before you roll out AI tools across your organization, take a hard look at your existing workflows. 

Are your teams already drowning in meeting notes? Do people struggle to find information because it's scattered everywhere? Is there confusion about what's current and what's outdated? 

If the answer is yes, AI won't fix these problems, it will supercharge them. 

The organizations that will benefit most from AI are those that first invest in the unglamorous work of establishing clear, structured ways of working. It's not as exciting as deploying the latest AI assistant, but it's the foundation that determines whether AI becomes a genuine productivity tool or just another source of noise. 

What are your teams doing to prepare their workflows for AI? The time to act is now, before bad habits become permanently amplified.