Humanity-Upgraded?

The Next Fork of Evolution

Our systems—and therefore our organizations—are dysfunctional. Not in the sense that they “don’t work.” They do. But they work at the cost of human dignity so consistently, so casually, that we treat it as the price of admission to the most widespread religion since Catholicism.

Of course, I’m talking about Capitalism. Which is really just profit, dressed in ideology. And in this system, profit is no longer a means to an end. It is both the means and the end.

And that’s what traps us. That’s what keeps us running the loop of our own eventual collapse. But what if profit was neither? What if it were just a side effect—of a system designed on purpose to enable human thriving?

Let me invite you into a deeper reflection.

Because AI—the tool we’ve just welcomed into the room—may be the first in human history with the capacity to assist in systemic self-reflection. If we get this right, we don’t just take a cool left turn. We step into the role of our own designers.

Something we’ve always been doing—just not consciously. Not systemically. Not really wisely. And definitely not with the ability to hold all the moving pieces.

So buckle up. This won’t be a one-minute read. And it’s not meant to be.

A quick look in the rear-view mirror

Before the dawn of AI, some thinkers were already onto something.

A few, just to name names:

• Douglas McGregor, with his Theory X and Y—why people remain unmotivated in systems that treat them like machines.

• Daniel H. Pink, calling out that the legacy operating system of work is outdated, and carrots and sticks are begging for retirement.

• Frederic Laloux, mapping the rare and radiant few organizations that operate with self-management, deep purpose, and human-scale integrity.

• Brené Brown, on a long, fierce crusade to inject care, vulnerability, and courage into brittle, armored systems.

• Jody Thompson and Cali Ressler, with ROWE (Results Only Work Environment)—a proof of concept that humans don’t need to be managed like livestock to deliver outcomes.

  
  

They were brilliant. They still are. These were my guiding lights during my 10 years spent in Organizational Change Management. But even their visions—bold as they were—are hitting the same ceiling: They assumed that evolution in organizations would require evolved humans to pull it off.

And here’s the catch:

The kind of evolution they described requires something extremely rare in humans:

• The ability to think systemically

• The humility to self-reflect

• The capacity to hold empathy and complexity without collapsing into chaos or control

  
  

And while we’ve seen examples, they’re like whispered myths. You might have heard of one. But you’ve probably never worked in one. Because this level of function requires a rare constellation - one that almost never emerges on its own:

– Aligned and self-reflexive leadership

– Safe culture

– Courageous feedback

– Collective maturity

– And enough slack in the system to pause and reflect without burning down.

Most of us? We struggle to do this individually—let alone systemically.

But then: we created AI. And suddenly… we have the possibility to crack the ceiling, but only if we seriously reflect on the implications. We should not spend another breath on worrying whether AI will take over and rule the world. Because here’s the uncomfortable truth: It’s not AI we should fear. It’s humans with toddler-tier wisdom and God-tier tools. And AI is a tool in our hands, not the other way around. So we need to shape it and use it with clarity, intention and restraint. 

So consider this: AI can do what most humans can’t.

• Spot complex patterns across vast timelines

• Sift through thousands of signals without bias or burnout

• Hold a mirror up to a system—without ego, defensiveness, or agenda

  
  

It can process more than we ever could, and it never needs to be right, respected, or rewarded. It doesn’t get defensive. It doesn’t need validation. It doesn’t have an ego. It doesn’t fall into the trap of sunken cost. It just reflects. That’s the kind of mirror we’ve never had before. And it’s the kind of tool that—if used wisely—can finally help us make sense of ourselves, our organizations, and our stuck loops.

But here’s where it gets dangerous.

Right now, most organizations want to use AI for one thing:

More of the same, but faster and cheaper.

That’s the trap. Because if we unleash AI on that purpose—on the legacy Operating System of capitalism-as-god and optimization-as-salvation—it will do exactly what we ask. It will amplify and accelerate dysfunction with machine precision. It won’t rebel. It won’t warn us. It will simply serve. And we’ll “celebrate success” while it runs us straight into the wall.

What Else Is Possible?

What if we asked better questions?

• What if we asked AI to track the energy leaks inside our systems?

• To identify the emotional bottlenecks that stall collaboration?

• To surface the fears behind our worst decisions?

• To analyze language patterns in our emails and reveal what we’re not saying?

• To point out which priorities are performative, and which ones are quietly holding the org together?

• To lay out all the possible consequences of our proposed decision?

  
  

In prehistoric times, a leader never had to guide more than a hundred people. Today, they steer thousands. Sometimes tens of thousands. 

AI could be the nervous system that helps those leaders feel again. It could give them sensory input they’ve never had—if we design for that. It would give us the ability to feel, see, hear and detect subtle signal across the whole system. If we tune AI to reflect wisdom instead of just executing instructions, we could finally lead from insight instead of illusion and assumption.

Evolution, On Purpose

I was asked recently how organizational change management could boost AI adoption in corporations. The first question for a behavior change project is this: What are the benefits you want to realize as an organization? And I know the answer to that question. More of the same, but faster and cheaper.

If the benefits are:

• More speed

• More compliance

• More output

• More profit

…then congratulations.

We’ve unleashed the perfect machine to replicate our own dysfunction at scale.

But if the benefit is:

• Better insight

• Better questions

• Better decisions

…then we may have found the missing piece.

AI should never make decisions for us. But it can—and must—support us in seeing the full picture. Including the parts we’ve trained ourselves to ignore.

I dare you:

Try and imagine what could happen if AI, a tool that can hold our collective memory and wisdom, would be assisting in creating the ideal condition for the human mind to thrive in an organizational setting.

Not just tracking tasks. Not just summarizing notes. Not just automating broken processes. But helping us sense patterns, process emotion, detect drift, and make meaning. Maybe -just maybe- even history would be shocked enough to stop repeating itself. 

Using AI this way would bring efficiency. But it wouldn’t be the kind we chase now. It would be an efficiency we’ve never seen before. Because there’s no precedent for wisdom at scale. Let’s try and aim for the age of Homo Cordatus - the wise hearted human. Not more powerful just more conscious and thinks long term. Hey, it may even enhance shareholder satisfaction. 

I do believe this is the real fork ahead:

• Do we use AI to perpetuate and replicate what we are already doing?

• Or do we use it to evolve into something we seldom even imagined in science fiction?