Leverage Large Language Models (LLMs) to overcome the 'blank page' problem in strategy development. Use them as a conversational partner to organize scattered thoughts, build a narrative, and refine your ideas before presenting them to stakeholders or the wider team.
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In a remote environment, immediate access to colleagues isn't always possible. A GPT loaded with context about your company and cofounders' thinking can act as a thought partner, helping you overcome the "blank slate" problem without scheduling a meeting.
Instead of asking AI for answers, command it to ask you questions. Use the "Context, Role, Interview, Task" (CRIT) framework to turn AI into a thought partner. The "Interview" step, where AI probes for deeper context, is the key to generating non-obvious, high-value strategies.
To get beyond generic advice, instruct ChatGPT's voice mode to act as a challenging mentor. Prime it with a specific framework like the Theory of Constraints (TOC) and provide your resource limitations. This structured dialogue forces the AI to challenge your assumptions and generate realistic, actionable solutions instead of pleasantries.
A powerful workflow is to explicitly instruct your AI to act as a collaborative thinking partner—asking questions and organizing thoughts—while strictly forbidding it from creating final artifacts. This separates the crucial thinking phase from the generative phase, leading to better outcomes.
Instead of asking AI for answers, leaders can prompt it to be a "strategic thought partner" that asks critical questions one by one. This process helps refine strategies for board meetings by forcing the leader to anticipate and address tough questions about revenue impact and core business concerns.
Most people use AI to perform tasks like writing copy. A more powerful application is using it as a strategic brainstorming partner. Ask it high-level questions about cultural trends and consumer behavior (e.g., 'Why did this artist pop?') to generate novel insights for your strategy.
To get the best results from AI, treat it like a virtual assistant you can have a dialogue with. Instead of focusing on the perfect single prompt, provide rich context about your goals and then engage in a back-and-forth conversation. This collaborative approach yields more nuanced and useful outputs.
Instead of using AI as a compliant assistant, program it to be a challenging 'sparring partner.' Ask it to find holes in your logic or anticipate all the critical questions your CEO might ask. This transforms it from a content generator into a powerful strategic tool for preparation.
To tackle complex projects like designing a new partner program, a structured, conversational approach with AI is highly effective. By prompting with "Let's take it one question, step at a time," users can turn the AI into a collaborative strategic planner.
Apply the collaborative, iterative model of AI pair programming to all knowledge work, including writing, strategy, and planning. This shifts the dynamic from a simple command-and-response tool to a constant thought partner, improving the quality and speed of all your work.
