Sage Against the Machine
A sage is a person recognized for their profound wisdom, insight, and good judgment – typically gained through experience, reflection, and deep learning. The term comes from the Latin sapere, meaning “to be wise,” and sages have played critical roles in societies throughout history, often serving as moral guides, advisors, or spiritual teachers.
Sage: A person recognized for wisdom, insight, and judgment. From the Latin sapere, meaning “to be wise.”
When we recently refreshed our core values at ADVISA, Leadership Consultant, Mandy Haskett, offered up the phrase “Sage Against the Machine” to capture our approach to catalyzing individual and organizational change over the last thirty-nine years.
Aside from being a play off the ’90s rock band, the phrase really gets at the existential issue in our face.
Consulting with AI
For those of us who make our living as some version of a modern sage by sharing our expertise and serving others – coaches, accountants, attorneys, consultants, writers, customer service and admin professionals, teachers – we are actively saging against the machine. Not in a negative or oppositional way, but in an exploratory, enabling, opportunistic, creative way.
AI is rapidly automating generic knowledge, routine outputs, and broad advice. Thus, we are focused on exploiting the value of our expertise at ADVISA which manifests in qualities that machines can’t easily replicate:
- Deep pattern recognition gained through narrow, repeated exposure.
We have thirty-nine years of helping clients responsibly apply the behavioral science of The Predictive Index to improve job fit, coaching, teamwork and engagement. That’s a lot of repeated exposure across thousands of different industries and contexts. - High-stakes judgment calls that blend nuance, experience, and risk.
Our learning experiences are infused with coaching. This gives leaders the space to reflect, reframe and tap into their values and convictions, enabling them to practice and apply what they are learning in a safe, feedback rich environment. - Human trust built through relationships, not transactions.
Humans are neuro-biologically wired for connection. AI can’t replace the oxytocin, dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins that are released in our brains when someone empathizes and connects with us. We help leaders grow their emotional intelligence and influence skills to build trust and shared purpose with others.
The Role of AI in Work Culture
In reflecting on our unique expertise aimed at cultural transformation, I’m reminded of a book I read many years ago – The Business of Expertise by David C. Baker.
Baker argues that true experts don’t sell time or deliverables; they sell clarity, confidence, and insight. These are less about what you know (which AI can mimic) and more about how and why you know it, and for whom.
Specifically, these five principles from the book may help you separate the signal from the noise and apply your unique gifts in the age of AI.
- Narrow your focus to become more valuable, not less.
- Sell expertise, not labor—clients want outcomes, not inputs.
- Be known for something specific so people seek you, not just a solution.
- Charge for your thinking, not your doing.
- Codify and externalize your frameworks—the way you think is your moat.
AI and the Future of Work
The future of work is not something to dread or ignore – it’s something that we must actively shape. And to shape something, we must touch it, apply pressure to it, carve into it, “sage” against it with our wisdom.
Technology is not here to replace our humanity but to challenge us to elevate it.
By embracing change with curiosity instead of fear, we unlock new possibilities for creativity, connection, critical thinking and contribution.
The question isn’t whether technology will change our work and lives – it already is. The real question is: Who will we become in response?
WANT HELP NAVIGATING AI IN THE MODERN WORKPLACE?
Request a free consultation. One of our Leadership Consultants will help you assess where you’re at and explore the ways AI can help propel your organization more quickly toward its goals and aims.