---
id: "prereq-shared-performance-understanding"
type: "prereq"
source_url: "https://hbr.org/2024/12/how-to-create-value-systematically-with-gen-ai"
source_title: "How to Create Value Systematically with Gen AI"
source_timestamps: ["§ The Generative AI Value-Creation Pyramid"]
tags: ["strategy", "alignment"]
related: ["quote-shared-understanding", "concept-value-creation-pyramid"]
reason: "AI initiatives will default to isolated, low-value productivity gains ('so-so technologies') if the team does not know which business levers actually matter."
sources: ["spine"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-spine"
originDay: 1
articleStem: "hbr-nm-98-create-value-systematically-genai"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2024/12/how-to-create-value-systematically-with-gen-ai"
sourceTitle: "How to Create Value Systematically with Gen AI"
---
# Shared understanding of organizational performance drivers

**Prerequisite.** Before an organization can move from incremental to transformative Gen AI use, leadership and teams must share a clear understanding of **what actually drives performance and value** in their specific business context. This is the foundation of the [[concept-value-creation-pyramid]] and is stated directly in [[quote-shared-understanding]].

**Reason it's required:** without it, AI implementation lacks strategic direction and defaults to isolated, low-value productivity gains — [[concept-so-so-technologies]]. Knowing which business levers matter is what lets teams find Level 2 and Level 3 use cases during Discovery in the [[framework-half-day-prototyping]] workshop.