How to Use AI Without Losing Your Edge
IQ scores have been sliding since 1970, and Lorraine Marchand thinks AI is quietly speeding that up.
She’s also in the middle of building an agentic AI board of directors for her own company — one she jokes could someday vote to fire her.
Lorraine teaches management at Columbia Business School and has advised Fortune 500 companies on innovation strategy.
Her latest book, drawn from interviews with 120 CEOs, breaks down what actually makes companies work.
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Key Takeaways
People Follow Great Managers, Not Great Companies: Company culture is shaped by leaders at every level. Strong managers create psychological safety, encourage honest conversations about failure, and build teams people don’t want to leave.
Your Network Beats Your Resume: Sending hundreds of online applications rarely works. Most opportunities still come through personal relationships, referrals, and genuine networking across industries.
AI Should Challenge Your Thinking—Not Replace It: The smartest way to use AI is as a sparring partner. Develop your own ideas first, then ask AI to challenge your assumptions, expose blind spots, and offer counterarguments.
Beware “Digital Dementia”: Constant reliance on AI, search engines, and digital tools can reduce memory retention and critical thinking. Your brain grows by wrestling with ideas—not outsourcing them.
The Skills AI Can’t Easily Replace: Communication, leadership, empathy, emotional intelligence, and critical thinking are becoming increasingly valuable as technical tasks become more automated.
Resources
Worried AI is quietly doing your thinking for you? Grab this free worksheet for questioning your own beliefs — before you ever open a chatbot: https://affordanything.com/turn-it-around
No Fear, No Failure — Lorraine’s book on building a culture that survives failure instead of hiding from it: https://cup.columbia.edu/book/no-fear-no-failure/9780231219204/
More from Lorraine Marchand: https://www.lorrainemarchand.com
Connect with Lorraine on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorrainemarchand/
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Chapters
Note: Timestamps are approximate and may vary across listening platforms due to dynamically inserted ads.
02:00 — The breakfast test that reveals company culture fit
04:56 — Why remote teams still need real human connection
12:22 — How VC funding can kill your startup’s culture on day one
15:43 — The Friday ritual that builds trust on any team
18:52 — Three questions that reveal if your job is fixable
24:04 — Why blasting out 500 applications wastes your time
28:22 — Why IQ scores have dropped since the 1970s
30:50 — What one engineer was told about her AI replacement
48:20 — Why you must train AI to stop agreeing with you
1:04:20 — Building an AI board that could someday fire you
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