Compass Pro Bono · AI Change Management
Head · Hands · Heart
Take a workflow your team runs often, such as preparing for a board meeting, and break it into steps. Some steps need expertise and judgment. Some mostly take time. Some need trust and presence. Once you can see which is which, you can make better decisions about where AI belongs.
The framework
Not all work is the same, and AI should not treat it like it is.
Head
Your expertise, judgment, and nonprofit context, where AI may help you think through options.
Hands
Rules-based work that takes time but does not require unique judgment.
Heart
Trust, empathy, relationships, and presence. This stays with people.
Hands work is where automation can be useful. Tools like Zapier or Power Automate can run rules-based steps so your team does not have to repeat them by hand.
Head work is where an AI tool may help draft, synthesize, or analyze. It is a support, not a replacement. Your team still reviews the work and owns the decision.
Heart work stays with people. Your relationships, trust, and judgment about people should not be handed to AI, and the framework helps your team see why.
How it works
- FramePick one recurring task your team knows well.
- Break downSplit it into 3-5 concrete steps, the kind you could explain to someone else.
- LabelFor each step: is this Head, Hands, or Heart work?
- Your toolsTell us what your team already uses and what you use it for.
- MapSee where your existing tools may help, and where they should not.
No sign-up · Your answers stay in your browser · Free to use
About this exercise
Based on the Head / Hands / Heart framework, part of “Tactical Tools for AI Change Management at Nonprofits” by Compass Pro Bono.
There are no right or wrong answers here. The value is in the conversation it starts with your team. Your answers stay in your browser and are never stored.