Three cases to use ChatGPT as a thinking partner
Is it time to redefine genius in the workplace? What if your next brilliant idea is a collaboration between your expertise and an AI’s limitless knowledge pool?
I love progress. Getting things done and moving the needle for myself and the groups I work with. This often starts with insights or ideas. And these days, I found that AI is a great partner to catalyze hunches into clear approaches for problems and potentials. No longer confined to the sparks of brilliance from solitary minds, genius is now a collaborative dance between human creativity and artificial intelligence. When we look at the Internet and Google, we often use is to find information or answers. This article explores the potential of ChatGPT, not just as a tool for answers and suggestions, but as an active thinking partner in the professional and personal realm.
Beyond Answers – ChatGPT as your sidekick
The evolution of AI from a passive tool to an active participant introduces a significant shift in how we approach problem-solving and creativity . Traditionally, AI has been viewed as a superpower in automation – taking tasks of our plate, acting on our behalf and freeing us up to do better things. However, one of the untapped powers of AI, particularly ChatGPT, lies in its ability to engage in a dynamic, two-way interaction. Rather than a research assistant or automation bot, AI can be your creative sidekick and thinking partner.
From Tool to Teammate: The New AI Dynamic
These days I have used AI more as a 1-1 workshop whenever I had time and ideas. We worked together on ideas and concepts, challenging assumptions and guiding my thought processes. This is the new dynamic introduced by ChatGPT – a shift from using AI as a mere information source or optimization bot to treating it as a collaborative partner. In this role, ChatGPT acts like an intern who is not only well-versed in a wide array of subjects but also capable of providing moments of unexpected insight. A recent study has shown the impressive improvements that AI can bring to knowledge workers.
The Unseen Potential: ChatGPT’s Capacity for Creative and Strategic Thinking
The untapped potential of ChatGPT in professional settings is immense. It goes beyond conventional data processing and enters the realm of creative and strategic thinking. By engaging with ChatGPT, professionals can transform their initial ideas and hunches into well-developed concepts and strategies, ensuring a higher quality of output in a fraction of the time typically required. Let me show you three cases that surprised me and showed the extraordinary capabilities of ChatGPT.
Case Study 1: Manifesto and Strategy Development
Crafting a Venture Manifesto
A few weeks back, I was working with a group and we wanted to develop a manifesto for a new venture. We needed to figure out what we wanted, why we wanted it and how we could communicate our idea. Developing a manifesto for a new venture is an exercise in clarity and vision. In this case, I used ChatGPT as a digital assistant to become my collaborative partner. The process began with exploring the fundamental principles that should define the venture. Through a series of prompts and back and forth, ChatGPT helped distill the essence of the venture’s mission, values, and aspirations. The AI’s role was not to provide ready-made answers but to facilitate a deeper exploration of ideas, leading to a manifesto that truly resonated with the venture’s core objectives. At the end, I used my sidekick to bring it in a good form and make it sound good. Maybe 15 chat messages overall from start to final manifesto.
Prompt: You are an experienced business leader and seasoned communicator. Help me draft a manifesto for ____. Guide me through the process. only ask one question at a time.
Strategy Formulation
Since I was at it, how about figuring out a way to make the manifesto come alive. We have limitied resources and so I wanted to come up with a strategy over the next five years that has a chance of success.
The strategy development phase further highlighted ChatGPT’s versatility. Again, I asked to be guided through the conversation, ensuring the right questions were asked, and each strategic element was thoroughly considered. At times, I did not like the direction of a question and had to repoint my sidekick. At other times, I did not know how to answer and asked for suggestions. This interactive process not only brought clarity and direction but also infused the strategy with innovative ideas. The AI’s contribution led to a good strategy draft, which served is a great preparation for our team discussion and decision-making process.
Prompt: Now, guide me to develop a strategic plan for this for the next five years. Guide me through the process. Only ask one question at a time.
Well, we don’t draft manifestos and strategies every week. My case shows how the interactive process can work when you have just a basic idea without too much shape. And when you have more questions than clarity. Here are other scenarios where ChatGPT could serve as an effective guide:
- Business Model Innovation: Guiding through the process of developing a new business model. ChatGPT can ask probing questions to explore different aspects like customer segments, value propositions, revenue streams, and key activities, helping to refine and challenge the traditional business model thinking.
- Marketing Strategy Formulation: Assisting in creating a marketing strategy and content paln. By asking questions about target audiences, channels, messaging, and metrics, ChatGPT can help clarify objectives and tactics, leading to a more focused and effective strategy.
- Product Development Planning: Aiding in the conceptualization of a new product or service. ChatGPT can help explore various features, user needs, market gaps, and potential challenges, thereby aiding in shaping a more user-centric and market-relevant product. It can help shape product vision, USPs and draft development roadmaps.
- Organizational Change Management: Facilitating the creation of a change management plan. ChatGPT can prompt considerations about stakeholder impact, communication strategies, training needs, and resistance management, ensuring a comprehensive approach to organizational change.
Case Study 2: Working out Ideas
Addressing Challenges in Agile Working
I was working on a case that wrestled with some of the challenges for agile working in organizations. Through the years I found some recurring weak points in the use of agility in established situations. I had also read some about the dark sides of agile. Some I had a lot of thoughts and ideas floating around. I was missing the shape, the pointed analysis and a clear message how to fix it. I used chatGPT in four ways to help me: summarize, cluster, relate, criticize .
ChatGPT’s first task was to provide a comprehensive summary of related literature, which it accomplished by distilling informatinon to insights (I wrote about it here). Next, I gave ChatGPT all my notes and observations – and its ability to cluster these observations into distinct themes was crucial. It facilitated a structured analysis, enabling a clear identification of the main challenges.
Prompt: What is the central thesis or argument of the book ____
Prompt: How does this book relate to other works in the same field or subject?
Prompt: Cluster these notes into 4 groups. Explain your logic.
Enhancing Logic and Coherence
I like the power of ChatGPT to relate ideas to other sources, be it research, theories or books. The next step involved relating specific challenges to broader theoretical concepts. ChatGPT demonstrated its adeptness in making connections between practical observations and established agile principles. Its critical review of the draft article was particularly noteworthy. By identifying logical inconsistencies, suggesting improvements, and highlighting areas needing further elaboration, ChatGPT significantly enhanced the depth and persuasiveness of the final article and podcast.
Prompt: You are a friendly helpful and experienced writing coach who helps an author revise their papers so that they are more accessible to a wider audience. Describe who might be a typical a reader of Medium, and who might be a new reader. Then, writing as those people in their voice, react to this piece by sharing critical feedback on the flow of arguments and the style used.
Again, this might not happen everyday. But taking a vague idea to a clear direction happens often. Evolving ideas can also happen in these cases: :
- Evaluating Trends: For professionals considering the adoption of new technologies or trends in their business, ChatGPT can summarize existing research, cluster benefits and drawbacks, relate these to specific business needs, and critique a proposed implementation plan, ensuring a well-informed decision-making process.
- Developing Curricula: Everyone can use ChatGPT to work through an important field, assimilate various theories and practices, cluster them according to educational goals, relate them to where you are at or what outcomes you seek, and then critically review curriculum plans for comprehensiveness and coherence.
- Project Planning: Anyone organizing anyhting can use ChatGPT as a tool to to map out goals, phases, resources, timeslines, risks and communication plans. I can summarize best practices in project management for different cases, counter risks with mitigation strategies, and provide a critical review of project plans for feasibility, potential improvements and alignment with goals.
- Crafting Stories for Communications: Anyone leading anything needs to share the Why, the How and the Progres. ChatGPT can be instrumental in guiding you through storytelling techniques and best practices, clustering narrative elements based on target audience and objectives, relating content strategies to desired audience reactions, and critically evaluating drafts for narrative flow, emotional impact, and clarity of message.
Case Study 3: Art Appreciation and Flow Experience
Experiencing ‚The Art of Seeing‘
I ran across the book „The Art of Seeing“ by Csikszentmihalyi. He came up with the idea of flow and here he shared about flow while observing arts and how to get to it. I asked chatGPT with a simple prompt to guide me through it. In this case study I used ChatGPT to deepen the experience of engaging with art. Selecting a specific artwork, the interaction with ChatGPT was structured around a series of thought-provoking questions. These questions encouraged a focused and mindful observation, prompting a deeper appreciation of the artwork’s nuances. ChatGPT’s role extended beyond mere questioning; it provided rich contextual information, weaving in historical facts, artist background, and thematic interpretations, which enriched the overall experience.
Prompt: I want to engage with an art piece. My guiding idea is from „Art of Seeing“ by Czisentmihalyi. Guide me step by step to get to flow through ____
Take it one at a time. Ask me questions and educate me. Wait till I respond before bringing the next one.
Broadening Perspectives
The ability of ChatGPT to relate the observed artwork to other artistic creations and historical movements added a layer of depth to the experience. This comparative analysis not only highlighted the unique aspects of the chosen artwork but also placed it within a broader artistic and cultural narrative. The concluding summary of the experience served as a reflective piece, capturing the insights gained and emotions evoked, thereby encapsulating the transformative nature of this AI-enhanced art appreciation journey. I usually take 12-15 prompts to dive deep with an art piece.
Unleashing the Power of AI-Assisted Imagination
The case studies point to a profound truth: the power of AI, especially of LLMs, to enhance human imagination and strategic thinking is vastly underutilized. Each scenario demonstrates that when we shift our perspective of AI from a simple tool to an active thinking partner, the possibilities for innovation and problem-solving expand exponentially.
Transformative Potential of ChatGPT
What stands out from these experiences is the transformative role ChatGPT can play in various contexts. Whether it’s in developing business strategies, crafting compelling narratives, or deepening our understanding of art, ChatGPT’s ability to guide, challenge, and expand our thinking processes is clear. Its impact is not just in providing information, but in fostering a more analytical, reflective, and creative mindset.
The Future of Professional Creativity and Innovation
As we look to the future, it’s evident that embracing AI as a thinking partner can be a game-changer for professionals across industries. The key lies in recognizing and harnessing this potential to fuel creativity, improve decision-making, and accelerate ideas to action. This approach can redefine how we tackle complex problems and explore new opportunities.
The Dawn of AI as a Thinking Partner
The journey through these case studies and analyses brings us to a pivotal point: the dawn of AI as a thinking partner in the professional world. ChatGPT, with its dynamic capabilities, stands at the forefront of this revolution, redefining the boundaries of human intelligence and creativity.
Embracing AI in Creative and Strategic Processes
As we enter this new era, the invite is out for professionals is to rethink their relationship with AI. No longer just a source of information, AI can be a catalyst for innovation and a co-creator in the journey of professional development. The future promises a synergy between human ingenuity and artificial intelligence, leading to unprecedented levels of creativity and efficiency in the workplace.
The best is yet to come.
siyach 