Are You Getting Smarter with AI — or Just Faster?
A practical playbook for leaders and knowledge workers who want to use AI as a thinking partner — not a shortcut.
A practical playbook for leaders and knowledge workers who want to use AI as a thinking partner — not a shortcut.
"Smart, practical, and timely."
Early reader reviews of SMARTER
A different way to think about AI. Most AI books teach you how to get more from AI. SMARTER teaches you how to think better with it.
We talk a lot about AI taking our jobs. Wendy Tan invites us to consider a different concern — that AI may quietly replace our thinking, and we may not even notice it happening.
In SMARTER, she offers five practical steps to help us stay intentional about how we think, so we can use AI for what it does well without losing what makes us uniquely human.
Having worked with Wendy, I found this book very much a reflection of who she is — thoughtful, grounded, and deeply human in her approach. It doesn’t argue against AI; instead, it helps us think more carefully about our relationship with it. A timely and worthwhile read for anyone trying to navigate this new landscape with both curiosity and intention.
This is indeed what comes next. Way too many people see AI as a binary technology, where either you’re all in or you’re out. But in reality, as we have seen in the past, the biggest leap in human development has come from synthesising different fields — human productivity supplemented by AI will be this move.
But it needs to be done only after a significant shift in how humans think, how humans learn, and how humans work — and that’s what this is all about. We don’t need better prompts. We need better users.
Well articulated advocacy for the mature application of AI. A good read for those who are sitting on the fence about the impact of AI on their lives and workplaces. This has helped shape my way of using AI in my business, and I echo the caution voiced between these pages.
Really enjoyed this book. The framework is simple but really effective. It has helped me think more clearly and get better results from AI. A highly recommended resource for professionals who want to collaborate with AI in a more intentional and strategic way.
We need to start treating AI as a sparring partner and not a vending machine — retaining our thinking and even nurturing it with AI, not letting AI do the thinking for us. The book emphasises why it’s important to nurture thinking and curiosity with AI, a uniquely human trait.
The Flame Centre® BRAIN™ framework is not theoretical. Each chapter walks you through how to apply one thinking capability to real, complex tasks — with examples drawn directly from real transcripts.
Wendy's research identified eight consistent mistakes professionals make when using AI — not technical errors, but thinking errors. She calls them the Eight Deadly AI Sins. Naming them is the first step to escaping them.
Experts and novices must use AI differently. Experts risk complacency; novices risk shallow understanding. This book shows both groups a distinct, valid path through the BRAIN framework.
When AI can produce in minutes what used to take days — what exactly is your value-add?
The answer isn't the tool — it's the thinking behind it. That is the difference between getting smarter and just getting faster.
Based on in-depth interviews with experienced AI users across industries and analysis of more than a hundred real AI chat transcripts — Smarter gives you:
Built on Flame Centre® BRAIN™ Thinking framework — validated by professionals and PhD holders across financial services, healthcare, education, research, technology, and the public sector.
The playbook for professionals who refuse to outsource their intellect.
Be smarter, not just faster. Be the pilot, not co-pilot.
Marshall Goldsmith
Thinkers50 Hall of Fame,
New York Times best-selling author of The Earned Life and What Got You Here Won't Get You There
Laurence Liew
Director, AI Industry Innovation, AI Singapore
Author of AI-First Nation
Eric Halvorsen
Leadership Academy Director
Danone
Robin Speculand
Implementation Specialist
& Best-selling Author
Low Peck Kem
CHRO Public Service Division,
Prime Minister's Office,
President SHRI, President WFPMA
Dr. Gog Soon Joo
Senior Director, Special Project,
Centre for Skills-First Practices at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, Institute for Adult Learning
Peter Block
Author of multiple books including Flawless Consulting, Community: The Structure of Belonging, and The Answer to How is Yes
Dr. Beverly Kaye
i4CP Industry Legend Award (2022)
and co-author of Love 'Em or Lose 'Em and Up Is Not the Only Way
Prof. Foo Maw Der
President's Chair in Entrepreneurship,
Professor Nanyang Business School
Nanyang Technological University
Prof. Sun Sun Lim
Lee Kong Chian Professor of Communication and Technology, Singapore Management University, author of Humanising Technology: Reflections on Design, Ethics and Inclusion
Ted Tai-Yu Chen
Managing Director,
Head of Investment Advisory,
Bank of Singapore
Whee Teck, Ong
Partner at Kyndryl and author of Adult Learning Architecture and The Job Apocalypse
Andrew Chow
CSP, AI advocator
Andre Ng
Engineering Deputy Director,
Singapore Public Sector
Rahul Sahgal
Founder and CEO, QoreNext Pte Ltd,
Serial AI Entrepreneur
This book is for you if you:
This book is not about simple tasks:
It's not about drafting emails, summarising meeting minutes, simple brainstorming, or generating images.
Are you someone who:
If you use AI for complex work where your thinking is the product — analysis, strategy, writing, decision-making — and you want to make sure it's making you sharper rather than shallower, this book is for you.
Why your thinking is the real bottleneck
Email required.
Organizations are racing to adopt AI. Most are measuring the wrong thing. Productivity is up. But the quality of decisions, the depth of thinking, and the confidence to challenge AI outputs — these are quietly eroding. And nobody is talking about it.
I have spent years researching exactly this kind of gap: the human capabilities that determine whether organizations actually grow and thrive, or just get faster.
I am the Managing Partner & co-founder of Flame Centre, a human skills institute that has partnered with 100+ organizations across Asia Pacific, Europe, and the United States.
I am the author of three books, each born from a crisis leading to original research creating thought-provoking perspectives along with actionable frameworks and tools: Wholeness in a Disruptive World, Learning Agility: Relearn, Reskill, and Reinvent, and now Smarter: 5 Steps to True Human-AI Collaboration.
I am a PhD Psychologist, Certified Speaking Professional, who keynotes globally on human-AI collaboration, learning agility, and leading through disruption. My research has been featured in MIT Sloan Management Review.
Most professionals assume they're using AI well. The transcripts tell a different story.
Take this 10-question diagnostic — drawn from real patterns in the research — to find out which of the Eight Deadly AI Sins shows up most in your work, and which Flame Centre® BRAIN™ thinking step you need to strengthen first.
Your results will identify your primary thinking gap and point you to the chapter that addresses it directly.
Take the 10-Question DiagnosticLearn what our research reveals about the hidden cognitive costs of AI—and how to stay ahead.
Download the Executive Summary.
Thinking With AI
This is not about better prompts. It's about better thinking with AI.
Thinking With AI
In both the medical study and our own research,…
How is this different from other AI books?
Most books about AI at work focus on AI tools and prompts — what to say to ChatGPT, which platform to use for which task. "Smarter" operates at a different level. It's about the thinking capabilities you bring to any AI tool, regardless of which one you're using today or what's released next year. The BRAIN™ framework is built on established cognitive science, which means it stays relevant as tools evolve. Prompting techniques have a short shelf life. Thinking principles don't.
Is this book about any specific AI tool?
No. The research and framework apply across generative AI tools — ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude, Gemini, and others. The examples in the book are drawn from real professionals using a range of tools. What matters is not which tool you use, but how you think when you use it.
I already use AI every day. What will I actually learn?
That's exactly the reader this book is written for. Daily use doesn't automatically build good thinking habits — in fact, the research suggests the opposite can happen. Fluency with AI tools can accelerate cognitive sloth, not prevent it. The book will help you identify specific thinking gaps you may not know you have, and give you practical ways to address them.
How long does it take to read?
The book is designed to be read straight through — most readers will finish it in a few focused sessions. But you'll get more value if you read it alongside a real piece of complex work you're doing. Apply each chapter's ideas in real time. The concepts are meant to be used, not just understood.
Is this relevant if I'm not in a technology role?
Absolutely. The research participants include managers, strategists, analysts, consultants, educators, and entrepreneurs — not engineers or data scientists. If you use AI for any kind of knowledge work, this book applies to you.
Can I order copies for my team?
Yes — and this is one of the most effective ways to use the book. When a team shares a common framework and language for AI collaboration, the quality of collective work improves significantly. Please contact us for bulk order pricing and options.
Is there a free chapter I can read first?
Yes. Download a free chapter below and see whether the book speaks to your experience.
