You Are Not Behind. You Are Unarmed..
Behind is a word about a race. Unarmed is a word about equipment. Most experienced leaders have the skill and are missing the tool.
The Creator's Journey · Chapter XIII, Becoming Super
Dr. Zdenka Cumano and I use one line with leaders more than any other. You are not behind. You are unarmed. It sounds like a slogan. It changes how a leader feels about the next step.
“Behind” is a word about a race. It implies other people have been running while you stood still, and that the distance is now too large to close. It produces shame. Shame produces hiding. A leader who believes he is behind stops asking questions in meetings, delegates AI to someone junior and quietly hopes it will pass.
“Unarmed” is a word about equipment. The skill is already there. The tool is missing. In naval aviation, nobody launched without the right equipment loaded and checked. That was not a judgment on the crew. An unarmed aircraft with an excellent crew is a problem you fix on the deck, before launch, in an afternoon.
One afternoon late
A chief executive who had not used these tools at all sat down with me during a coaching session. He brought a real problem: which of two markets to enter first. Within an hour, the tool was building a comparison, challenging his assumptions and drafting the questions his board would ask. By the end, he said, “I thought I was ten years late. I was one afternoon late.”
He was not learning a new profession. He was picking up a sword he already knew how to swing.
Shame derives its power from being unspeakable.
Brené Brown’s research explains why the word matters. In Daring Greatly she argues that shame grows in silence and loses its hold once it is named. “Behind” keeps a leader silent. “Unarmed” gives him something to say and something to do.
Ethan Mollick of the Wharton School, author of Co-Intelligence, puts a size on the real gap. His rule of thumb is about ten hours of real use before these tools click. Hours, not years.
You do not need every tool. The tools change every few months, and nobody keeps up with all of them. The armed leader carries the few that fit her mission and knows them well.
Arm yourself this week
- Bring a real decisionStart with a problem that matters this week, not a demo.
- Carry a few tools wellPick the ones that touch your most important decisions. Ignore the rest until they earn your attention.
- Put in the hoursUse them every day on real work. Judge them after ten hours, not ten minutes.
- Ask in the openKeep asking questions in meetings. Hiding is what turns unarmed into behind.
Quick answers
Is it too late for senior leaders to learn AI?
Rob Frasca’s answer is no. Experienced leaders are not behind. They are unarmed. The judgment is already there and the habit of using the tool is missing, which is a gap of hours and weeks, not years.
How long does it take to get comfortable with AI tools?
Ethan Mollick’s rule of thumb is about ten hours of real use. Rob Frasca recommends starting with one real decision and a small number of tools used every day.