In my MBA course on business process improvement, I introduced a new approach to streamlining process discovery. Instead of spending hours reviewing documents, we could use ChatGPT to summarize, synthesize, and surface patterns, enabling more comprehensive analysis in less time.-One student raised a concern: “Isn’t it unethical to load a company’s documents into ChatGPT?” I asked, “What makes it unethical, especially if we disclose our AI use in the engagement contract?” The student replied without hesitation, “It’s still unethical.” I turned to the class and asked, “What do you think?” -This class was rarely silent, but no one spoke. We moved on. Later, I wondered if something deeper was at play. Perhaps it wasn’t just about ethics. Maybe it was the discomfort surrounding GenAI usage in professional settings. Or maybe students were already using AI tools and felt unsafe saying so. That silence lingered.In today’s dispatch, we step back from that moment in the classroom to examine what it reveals about the workplaces we are leading. The challenge is not just how people are using GenAI, but why so many feel they cannot talk about it.

Episodes

Behind the AI Curtain