Making GenAI Adoption "Sticky:" Practice #2

Aligning AI Initiatives with Organizational Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals

This post was originally posted by Julie Foss on Substack on February 4, 2025.

What if the starting place for making Generative AI adoption sticky in learning organizations isn’t about the technology at all? What if it has to do with something we already have… our values.

Very few people join organizations that don’t align with their values. Most of us actively seek out workplaces whose mission resonates with our own beliefs. What if this alignment is exactly where our GenAI adoption efforts should begin?

By “alignment” in the context of GenAI adoption, I mean two things:

1. Strategic Alignment: Aligning GenAI initiatives with the vision, mission, values, and goals of an organization.

2. Practice Alignment: Aligning the vision, mission, values, and goals with the everyday practices of the people in the organization.

Aligning GenAI Initiatives with Organizational Anchors

I started thinking about the structures that align us and drive practice in learning organizations. I also considered how we approach those structures in a way that meets the urgency of emerging technology while reinforcing the values that bring people together. Consider the structures your organization uses as an anchor and road map:

• Mission

• Vision

• Values

• Strategic Plan

• Instructional Model

• Organizational Goals

If you are wondering what has to change for our people and organizations to be “ready” for GenAI adoption, consider starting with those anchors and looking at them through the lens of durability in the face of emerging technologies.

Durability conjures a certain level of physical toughness—furniture that survives childhood fort building, a car that won’t win any style points, but you feel comfortable putting your new teenage driver in, a pair of jeans that still fit and get more comfortable over time…

What if durability in learning organizations isn’t about physical toughness, but about holding tight to our values and getting radically flexible on how to live them out loud?

I asked Claude to create a made-up mission, vision, value, and goal statement to play out that query. Here’s what Claude generated for a fictitious organization, Educational Services Network (ENS):

• Fictitious Mission Statement: To support K-12 educational networks by providing technological solutions that enhance learning experiences and promote educational opportunities for all students.

• Fictitious Vision: To be a collaborative partner for K-12 educational networks, supporting systemic improvement through technology and a commitment to inclusive education.

  

  This image was generated by Napkin.ai

  
  

At first glance, the Mission, Vision, and Values for ENS, they seem fairly durable. Statements like “providing solutions that promote educational opportunities” and “be a collaborative partner” are broad enough to be relevant, even as new technology emerges. However, when considering how this organization might embody or realize these ideas—the “how”—they become more fragile.

Specifically, I wonder:

• Does “support for K-12 education networks” mean the same thing in an AI-enabled world?

• How does “inclusive education” look and sound differently with GenAI?

• How do needs around “access” change?

• How have we demonstrated “upholding an ethical standard” in the past? Might we need to approach that differently if we are using GenAI in our work?

I explored this further by engaging ChatGPT in a conversation to evaluate the strategic plan of a local community college (the full conversation can be found here). The exchange reinforced my thinking around the concept of durability:

• Goals, which tended to be general and aspirational, were fairly durable.

• Strategies were slightly more fragile, as language and interpretation evolved. For example, the strategy around “ensuring equity” was durable in intent, but how the organization defined and realized equity was more fragile.

• Objectives, especially those tied to programs, showed even more vulnerability when viewed through the lens of emerging technologies.

Though these are just a couple of examples, they have me curious to see how this working theory plays out across other implementations.

Aligning Vision, Mission, and Values with Everyday Practice

The other big piece of alignment for teams lies in bridging the gap between the structures that anchor our work and our everyday practice.

How do we close that gap, and how might GenAI help us do so?

A few ideas for how teams might do that, which, for now I’m calling “Vehicles of Practice.”

Vehicle #1: Calibration

Whether aligning values with spending allocation, unpacking ethical use across departments, or ensuring the team uses consistent messaging in external communications, GenAI can serve as a powerful tool for greater calibration across people and teams.

Vehicle #2: Examination

Begin with current practice. Use GenAI to examine how those practices might become more durable and aligned to your organization’s core values and strategic anchors.

Vehicle #3: Re-Imagination

Don’t just stop at using GenAI to execute the same practices faster. Ask: What would better look like? What if GenAI could wildly re-imagine that practice? Explore this new vision, then work backwards to address risks and concerns.

I’ve created a few examples of activities teams might undertake to move from learning to doing. My oldest suggested they need a name, so calling them “True Nexus Ripples.” My hope is that seeing concrete examples of how to translate learning to doing will have a ripple effect, inspiring teams to consider and find new ways to make AI adoption stickier.

As your team approaches GenAI adoption, consider how alignment might also support building commitment.

• Consider revisiting the structures that guide your strategic decisions—the mission, vision, values, and goals—and recalibrate them through the lens of durability in the face of emerging technologies.

• Reflect on both the strategic anchors and everyday practices and explore how GenAI can serve as a vehicle for calibration, examination, and re-imagination.

By aligning GenAI initiatives with who we are at our core, we set the stage for sustainable, value-driven change.

References:

• The fictitious mission, vision, and values statements were generated in collaboration with Claude.ai.

• The real-world example of the community college can be found in this chat.