AI Is Efficient. Human Connection Is Everything. Here's Why You Need Both. (LinkedIn Newsletter)
- Eric Jones
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Efficiency is the current corporate North Star. In boardrooms from healthcare to tech, the promise of artificial intelligence: to do more with less, to automate the mundane, and to scale productivity: is driving massive investment. However, a significant gap is emerging between technological capability and human experience.
Recent industry data suggests a sobering reality: nearly 60% of AI implementations fail to meet their intended goals. This failure rate isn't typically due to faulty code or insufficient processing power. Instead, it stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of what drives successful outcomes in business: human connection.
Listen to hear why the "efficiency mirage" is leading organizations into a trap where they trade long-term trust for short-term metrics.
The 60% Failure Rate: Why Technology Alone Isn't Enough
The push for AI integration often ignores the psychological infrastructure required for any tool to succeed. When a company implements new technology, it isn't just changing a workflow; it is altering the social and professional fabric of the team.
The 60% failure stat highlights a lack of governance, but more importantly, a lack of relational alignment. When AI is "bolted on" to a culture that lacks trust, the technology becomes a source of anxiety rather than an asset. This manifests as:
Reduced Engagement: High performers feel their nuanced skills are being overlooked in favor of automated speed.
Culture Dissonance: A gap between leadership’s "innovation" narrative and the employees' reality of increased workload and isolation.
Erosion of Trust: Teams begin to view management decisions as purely transactional, damaging the psychological safety required for true innovation.
Currently, the host of the Return on Relationship podcast, Roxanne Derhodge, explores these dynamics through the lens of resilience-based leadership. This approach acknowledges that while technology handles the data, humans handle the meaning.
Tom DeWitt’s CX Framework: Helpfulness as a Governing Principle
To understand how to bridge the gap between AI efficiency and human connection, one can look to the work of Dr. Tom DeWitt. As a leader in Customer Experience Management (CXM), DeWitt posits that organizations must be customer-centric at their core, not just in their marketing slogans.
His framework moves beyond simple journey mapping. He argues that "helpfulness" should be the governing principle of any operating model. In this view, marketing and operations are not separate departments; they are "the experience" itself.
When AI is integrated through this lens, its purpose shifts. It is no longer about replacing the human interaction, but about removing the friction that prevents a human from being truly helpful. If the AI doesn't make the customer feel "helped" or the employee feel "empowered," it is failing the CX test.
The Three Pillars of Justice in Customer and Employee Experience
One of the most critical segments of the discussion involves how people perceive fairness in an increasingly automated world. DeWitt highlights three types of "justice" that dictate whether a person: be it a client or a staff member: will trust an organization:
1. Distributive Justice
This refers to the fairness of the outcome. Does the benefit received match the effort put in? In an AI context, if an automated system denies a claim or a request, the recipient evaluates whether that result feels earned or arbitrary.
2. Procedural Justice
This is the fairness of the process. Are the rules transparent? Is there a way to appeal a decision? When AI operates in a "black box," procedural justice vanishes, leading to immediate frustration and a sense of powerlessness.
3. Interactional Justice
This is perhaps the most vital pillar in a resilience-based framework. It focuses on how people are treated during the interaction. Do they feel respected? Is there empathy? AI is notoriously poor at interactional justice. This is where the human element is indispensable. A leader who prioritizes interactional justice ensures that even when processes are automated, the "treatment" remains dignified and human.
ROR: The Master Metric for the AI Era
The solution to the efficiency/connection paradox lies in Return on Relationship (ROR). While ROI measures the bottom line, ROR measures the strength of the infrastructure that supports it. Relationships are the "pipes" through which business results flow. If the pipes are cracked by poor communication or over-reliance on cold automation, the results will eventually leak away.
Adopting a resilience-based approach means recognizing that high-trust relationships are the only hedge against the burnout and anxiety caused by rapid technological shifts. Organizations that focus on ROR consistently outperform their peers because they have built the psychological capacity to handle change.
Moving Forward with Resilience-Based Leadership
To avoid the 60% failure trap, leaders are encouraged to:
Audit for Justice: Look at your automated processes. Do they satisfy the requirements of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice?
Prioritize Helpfulness: Reframing AI as a tool for helpfulness rather than just efficiency changes the implementation strategy from the top down.
Invest in Relational Capacity: Use the time saved by AI to double down on human-centric skills like emotional intelligence, creative problem-solving, and conflict resolution.
Join the Conversation
The tension between AI and human connection is not going away, but it can be managed. By centering business strategy on the Return on Relationship, organizations can leverage the efficiency of technology without losing the soul of their brand.
How is your team balancing the push for AI with the need for authentic human connection?
Join Roxanne Derhodge and her guests each week as they dive deeper into the strategies that build resilient, high-performing teams.
Book Your Time Today For those looking to implement a resilience-based framework within their organization, Roxanne Derhodge Consulting offers keynote speaking and team workshops focused on stress management and building authentic workplace relationships.
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