Most technical leaders will promote AI adoption through training sessions or performance metrics. HHOOP product leaders are focused on creating habits.
Hilary Gridley, head of core products at Wearbles Company, said in an episode released Sunday on an episode of “Lenny's Podcast,” her goal is to make AI feel like a natural part of her daily work, not a mission.
For this, she relies on consistency, friction reduction, and a powerful reward loop, a three-part framework.
Consistency means building a daily relationship with AI. And it started small, Gridley said.
“It has to start very easily. You have to give them something that only takes a minute or two to do,” she said.
To help her team form habits, she created “30 Days GPT.” This is a list of daily microtasks designed to grain AI usage. The list starts with a simple prompt, such as uploading a calendar to ChatGPT or asking you to meet the topical points. that Eventually you'll be moved to more complicated tasks such as “Reverse Engineer Prompt Makes LLMS Think Like You.”
Grindley said he would avoid frontloading actual, complicated tasks into the process. She focuses on creating habits rather than education.
“The job is difficult,” she said. “I start with something fun, simple use case.”
“No one who has experienced this and hasn't come out from the other side feels confident in their skills,” she added.
Create a reward loop
Another key to her strategy is to design a reward loop. This is a critical, but often overlooked behavioral change.
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According to Gridley, it must be powerful, instant and emotional. “When this person does what you want to do to them, they feel like a million dollars,” she added.
One way she can do that is through custom GPTS. Team members can upload documents and get feedback or improved versions right away. No advanced prompts are required.
“They said, without any despair of, 'Oh, this helps me, this was cool', and 'Oh, I'm not very good at urging,” she said.
Gridley also shouted at team meetings and said encouraging demonstrations when someone uses AI to solve real problems is an effective way to recognize and reward adoption.
“If you're trying to develop some kind of habit with your team, she said.
Gridley did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
Her comments come as the corporate rush to adopt AI is shifting to high gear.
More than three-quarters of businessmen surveyed by McKinsey said they used AI in at least one business task as of July 2024, starting from 55% from the second half of 2024. The consulting firm surveyed nearly 1,500 participants online across a range of industries, company size, tenure and locality.
