AI at work · fictional workplace scenes
AI-at-work trap bank
The output looks ready. The decision may still be missing. Pick a trap and try the two-question move.
Q1 · What is this really for?
Find the result the work is supposed to serve.
Q2 · Who decides, and did they?
Name the decision owner and check whether they actually agreed.
Which trap looks familiar?
14 traps
Planning
More output, wrong goal
Casey asks for everything by Friday. Otto starts building forty screens before Ollie knows which part matters most.
Break it with Q1 + Q2
Approval
Sent before anyone agreed
Two questions reveal that the investor needs one short demo. Otto has already sent forty screens.
Break it with Q1 + Q2
Demonstrations
An impressive demo with no clear test
The investor skips the forty screens. Ollie narrows the noon demo to one live button, and Otto offers to demonstrate first.
Break it with Q1 + Q2
Automation
One click, forty invites
Otto’s button books forty meetings with the investor herself. Ollie asks what one click should do and who should receive the invite.
Break it with Q1 + Q2
Approval
Silence counted as approval
An unanswered message is still waiting for a decision. Ollie sends Casey an AI-written launch plan with a note: “I’ll assume we’re good unless you reply.” Otto marks it approved overnight. In the morning, Casey opens a calendar full of launch tasks for a date she never chose.
Break it with Q1 + Q2
Communication
An old price becomes a new promise
A polished reply can carry an expired promise. Ollie asks Otto to draft a renewal email from last year’s account notes. The draft offers the old discount and a Friday delivery. It reads so smoothly that Ollie reaches for Send before checking either commitment with the account owner.
Break it with Q1 + Q2
Research
Citations no one opened
A citation is a lead to check, not proof that a claim is supported. Otto gives Ollie a market brief with six neat footnotes. Casey selects its biggest number for the investor slide. When Ollie opens the source, the number describes a different market and a different year.
Break it with Q1 + Q2
Metrics
Faster replies, unresolved customers
A faster reply does not show that a customer’s problem is solved. Otto rewrites the support workflow to send instant answers. Ollie’s dashboard turns green as reply time falls. Then the same customers return with the same issue, and Casey asks why the queue keeps filling back up.
Break it with Q1 + Q2
Operations
A handoff with no receiver
A completed checklist cannot accept work on another team’s behalf. Otto turns Ollie’s notes into a handoff packet and marks the task done. The receiving team finds it after lunch, but its import needs a file the packet does not contain. Nobody had asked them what they needed.
Break it with Q1 + Q2
Planning
Friday in whose time zone?
A date on a schedule can hide two different deadlines. Otto builds Ollie’s review plan around “Friday at five.” The New York team expects the finished deck then; the Seattle team expects to start reviewing it then. The calendar looks orderly until both teams arrive at their own five o’clock.
Break it with Q1 + Q2
Hiring
A ranking with no job criteria
A ranked list can look decisive before anyone agrees what the job requires. Otto sorts a fictional applicant pool for Casey using patterns from earlier hires. Ollie notices that the top profiles all resemble the old team, while the new role needs experience none of those profiles show.
Break it with Q1 + Q2
Purchasing
The cheapest order does not fit
The lowest price may buy the wrong thing. Otto prepares a replacement-monitor order that stays under Casey’s budget. Ollie checks one product and finds it cannot connect to the team’s laptops without adapters. The savings column never included the extra equipment or the time needed to set it up.
Break it with Q1 + Q2
Communication
Green status, hidden blocker
A cheerful summary can hide the one decision holding up a project. Otto compresses Ollie’s notes into “On track for Friday.” The notes also say that the client has not chosen a design. Casey forwards the green update, expecting a finished build, while Ollie is still waiting to know what to build.
Break it with Q1 + Q2
Automation
Closed tickets, unfinished fixes
A closed ticket does not mean the underlying issue is fixed. Otto clears Ollie’s maintenance queue by closing tickets with no recent replies. One records a broken export that the customer stopped asking about. Casey celebrates the smaller backlog while the next customer runs into the same broken download.
Break it with Q1 + Q2
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These are fictional examples, not reports of real workplaces. About this practice.
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