The Canon
Numbered patterns, grouped by the problem each one answers rather than by the date it was written. Every entry opens with the summary a chief executive can act on and closes with what to do about it.
I have the mandate and nowhere to point it
The pilots work. Nothing scales.
- 001
Pilot purgatory is a funding artefact
The block is the budget, not the technology. Pilot money and production money come out of different pockets.
- 004
Permissions set the ceiling, not model quality
Most complaints that the model is not good enough are complaints that the assistant cannot reach the document holding the answer.
I cannot show what any of it paid for
- 002
The denominator problem in AI return figures
Return figures are not comparable between organisations, because almost nobody publishes what went under the line.
- 005
Headcount-neutral is the only honest first-year claim
Promising role reduction in year one buys a commitment finance will hold you to and a threat staff will organise against.
My people are politely refusing
- 003
Shadow adoption runs ahead of sanctioned adoption
Your baseline is not zero. Staff were using consumer AI for work long before procurement started.
- 007
Refusal is usually a measurement signal
Refusal is arithmetic, not attitude. If checking the output costs more than the task saved, stopping is the rational move and encouragement will not change it.