AI (Artificial Intelligence) has the potential to be transformational for organizations, but it must be implemented thoughtfully. While AI can bring significant benefits, it may also disrupt existing workflows and culture, leading to short-term challenges.
To support continuous improvement in public health’s often interruptive environment, in 2021 the Public Health Foundation (PHF) developed a resource called Modular kaizen. There are tools within the Modular kaizen resource that can be useful for minimizing disruption when implementing AI.
Before integrating AI into daily operations, organizations should apply the Modular kaizen model, as illustrated in Figure 1. The process begins with the “Check” phase, providing an opportunity to assess the organization’s current use of AI and understand its readiness for implementation.
During the Check phase, organizations should ask the following key questions:
- Why do we want to use AI? Does it align with our strategic priorities?
- What types of AI are currently in use, and by whom? For what purposes?
- What risks could AI pose to the organization?
- What types of AI should we consider using?
- Where in the organization could AI be applied?
- When would we implement AI solutions?
- Who would use AI tools?
- How would we manage and control AI use?
- How might AI impact our culture and workforce?
Answering these questions helps identify potential points of disruption, assesses their severity and urgency, determines who and what might be affected, and estimates the likely timeline of disruption.
The Modular kaizen approach minimizes disruption by ensuring no action (“Act”) is taken before completing a thorough “Check” to establish a clear baseline. This allows actions to be deliberate, informed, and limited in scope. Once the initial disruption is understood, a team can be chartered to plan a full improvement cycle using the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) model.
This second cycle allows for final validation of outcomes and documentation of changes for long-term sustainability.
Modular kaizen is not a training event. It is a consultant-led, interactive problem-solving process. It brings together internal subject matter experts to form an AI Adoption Team that investigates potential disruptions and develops strategies to minimize those disruptions.
Contact Ron Bialek at rbialek@phf.org to discuss how PHF can provide AI consulting assistance to support your organization, or visit our AI and Problem Solving Consulting Services page for more information.
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PHF is ready to assist. To learn more or tailor any of our services to meet your organization’s needs, contact Ron Bialek at rbialek@phf.org or fill out our inquiry form!
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