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Aurelius · Work & Leadership
Knowledge + Guidance

Should our team trust the model or trust ourselves on pricing?

Your team has split into two camps, or maybe each of you holds both positions on different days. One voice says the model knows more than any of you and should be trusted. Another says it is a black box and cannot be trusted at all. Neither voice has made a decision. Both have only found a way to avoid making one. The model is not an oracle and not an enemy. It is an input, like a colleague's opinion or last quarter's numbers. A colleague's opinion does not set your price. Neither should this. Someone on your team still has to decide, say why, and answer for what happens next. What is in your team's power: who signs off, what gets written down, what gets reviewed. What is not in your power: whether the model is always right. Stop arguing about the model's character. Start building the habit of deciding together and owning it.

◆ How this problem reads on the two dials
GuidanceKnowledge
More coaching
Some to learn
1:1 with AureliusWith others (a Pod)
Some one-to-one
Practise with peers
The team needs a little grounding in what these tools can and cannot judge, but the real work is building a shared habit of deciding and answering for the outcome.
How the two dials adapt to you →
What’s really going on

Neither trust nor resistance is a policy — both are ways of avoiding a decision. The tool proposes; your team decides. Assign one person to own the override, state the reason in writing, and review the outcome. What is not in your power is the model's judgment. What is in your power is what you do with it.

🔒 What you’ll build togetherUnlock by starting
A moveName one person who signs off on every model-driven price or decision, this week.
A moveBefore your team accepts a model's number, write one sentence a human would give for a different number.
A moveLog every override — yours and the model's — and review the log together once a month.
A moveBan the phrase 'the model said so' as a full answer to any client or teammate.
A moveSet your rule for when a human must review the model's output now, before you need it under pressure.
PractiseThe Override Review · a Pod of 4 · 30 min

What changes unlock by starting

  • A written rule the whole team follows for when humans override the model.
  • Fewer decisions blamed on 'the algorithm' and no one else.
  • Any team member can explain a pricing decision in one sentence, to anyone.
  • Trust in the tool rises or falls on evidence you tracked, not on habit or fear.

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