It's easy to give up AI as a hype, but the reality is that we now have access to a sparring partner which can help us work faster and smarter. We can talk to computers in our own language and get answers that make sense – something that was previously just science fiction.
Although many have tried ChatGPT, few people use AI regularly (and deliberately) in their job (and certainly fewer board members). But think if you could work both faster and better with the help of AI?
A study from MIT showed that people who used AI could do their job 40% faster and 18% betterSo let's say that this is the same thing as that. That means you get done more in shorter time and with better results.
Some people use AI all the time, others think it's wasted time. The truth is, the more you practice using AI in your job now, the better prepared you are for the future. Soon AI will be a natural part of the tools you use every day, without you thinking about it.
Ethan Mollick, Professor at Wharton School, thinks you should use at least 10 hours of exploring how AI can help you in your jobSo let's say that this is the same thing as that. It may sound a lot, but if it can help you work faster and better, it's worth the time!
7 practical advice for managers and directors
Here are 7 practical advice + examples of how managers and directors can use AI as sparring partner:
1. Ask for ideas, do not answer
If you ask for an answer, AI will give you one answer, but probably not the best answer. Rather, use it to give you ideas, feedback and other things to evaluate. Talk to AI as you talk to a human being (a person who has access to a lot of data and who does not always respond accurately), be open to discussion, instead of urgency to a response.
Practical example of INEVO: My colleague Steven has been specializing in writing good articles for B2B SaaS companies over the last 15 years. In an article (who went virally on Linkedin) he explains how he got AI to read through articles and come up with FAQ questions to articles he had written over the last 10 years. Traffic in these articles increased by 34% while the control group went down (the main thing is that the utility of the articles increased...)
For managers and directors: Upload the management documents and ask AI to come up with 3 relevant questions after reading the documents, usually from the perspective of a market manager or auditor. Do the same with controllers, emails you receive, and emails you send (NB: If you are concerned about uploading sensitive business data, go to ChatGPT settings and turn off to practice your data. Of course, you must be careful with sensitive data, but if you have received management documents via tools from Google/Microsoft/Apple, it is probably as unsafe as OpenAI. Microsoft is OpenAI's largest shareholder and generally known as a company that takes security seriously! Bonus tips: Use Perplexity to do research).
2. More context provides better responseSo let's say that this is the same thing as that.
The secret trick is to give AI enough context to start creating associations. Having a "generic" conversation will give you generic results. Give it enough specific information to help it create specific answers. Upload background information, reports numbers, competitors analysis and allow the conversation to take different directions.
Practical example of INEVO: When we visited Amazon in Seattle in spring 2024 to learn more about how Amazon used AI, we got a lesson about the mechanism; which Amazon uses to realize ideas faster; Working backwardsSo let's say that this is the same thing as that. I listened to the audiobook and I used AI to explore the book on my own lectures. An important concept in the book is to write fictional “press messages” to describe a desired future scenario and write FAQ to answer relevant questions about the idea before presenting the idea.
When we were to gather top leaders from Norwegian online shops in the South to dialogue on ideas and online commerce, I wanted to write a fictional newspaper article about the desired outcome of the collection. I started by writing a fictional article, but it stopped. I also tried to ask ChatGPT to write the article. It worked bad. Then I tested out using Perplexity to find a relevant article on similar topics (leaders in collaboration) and then I asked ChatGPT to write an article with the same structure, but with my content. Result became quite well after a few revision rounds, in fact so well that the draft was the basis for a real article on the local vision eventSo let's say that this is the same thing as that.
For managers and directors: Many board members read a lot of books and generally have a lot of knowledge and experience. AI has access to extremely much information. If you connect this information to your own knowledge and experience, new opportunities will be opened. Download ChatGPT on your mobile phone and start using it in different situations. You'll be surprised!
Three. Give AI your data
Record meetings, upload your PDFs — articles, budgets, meeting notes, books — and use the AI to discuss your unique data and situation. Use AI to forecast, summarise, and talk to books about your personal situation.
Practical example of INEVO: In INEVO we are discussing some internal and external meetings with Fourflies.aiSo let's say that this is the same thing as that. This tool transcribes meeting and makes good notes. It also provides statistics on speech time and on issues that are being asked in the course of the year. Recently we started using these recordings to analyse and evaluate each other's meetings. Laszlo Bock, former Google's VP of People Operations, claims that the recording and review of meetings is one of few training methods that actually change behaviour. This is done by providing employees with the opportunity to observe themselves and others in real situations and learn from it.
For managers and directors: Sign Up Fourflies, connect the account to your email address and let Fireflie write notes from digital board meetings. If you download the Fireflies app, you can also record physical meetings (remember it is polite to inform everyone that you are making recordings, even if it is usually not legally imposed). Use recordings to save time on writing references. Use the transcribe to analyse the meetings as mentioned in the next point.
4. Ask AI to assess your challenges through theoretical frameworksSo let's say that this is the same thing as that.
Because vast amounts of knowledge are stored in language models, AI can be used to explain concepts and put things in context. Ask: "Read through the text and suggest what the text would look like if it followed Pyramid's Principle"...or "What framework would an Executive Director use to assess my proposal?"
Practical example of INEVO: INEVO var finallist Entrepreneur of the year award in 2022So let's say that this is the same thing as that. In this regard, we had to give a little talk to the other participants. Here's The script for my talk about INEVO on the final day. Had I had ChatGPT at the time, I had pasted the text in ChatGPT and wrote: “This is the script for the talk about INEVO in connection with the EY Entrepreneur of the year award. Let as you are expert on the pyramid principle and reform the script.” The result was significantly more well structured than my original article.
For managers and directors: When reading a document, AI asked for the content to be restructured to follow the pyramid principle (a well-known framework for top consultants and managers).
5. Use AI to simulate different perspectives
Upload reports and analyses and ask the AI to take on different roles or perspectives when analysing a situation. For example, "How would an experienced market manager consider this campaign?" or "What objections could a sceptical customer have against this product?" This can give you valuable insights and help you see challenges from several angles.
Practical example from Sverre Steensen: Should a person on ski when working from home be forced to take out a holiday? Sever Steensen believes this is a difficult question. He expects employees to work hard and reward them with challenges, good pay and flexibility. If someone is doing well, he would let it pass, but for those who are performing badly, he would make it one thing. But how would different Norwegian leaders probably handle the matter? You can get an indication by asking AI.
For managers and directors: Go To ChatGPT, cut & Paste Sverre's dilemma and ask ChatGPT to read the text. Then write: Select five of the Norways “best” executive directors, name them, and briefly explain how they would react based on all the information you have about them. If you, as you read this, know these people, listen to them about the answer you received from chatGPT votes. Before commenting that ChatGPT is full of incorrect information, please write the following: ‘Can you double check whether these people are still the managers of the respective companies? Consider the fact that the more correct information the language models have available, the more precise the answer is likely to be. To think about it: how can we ensure that language models have the most accurate information in the future? Should we uncritically provide information to large international companies?(we have previously done it with Google, Facebook, Linkedin, Tiktok, etc.) Will history repeat in language models?
6. Use AI to analyse bulk data
AI can be a powerful tool for analysing and interpreting large amounts of data, which can be particularly useful for managers and directors.
Practical example of INEVO: Feedback from customers is important for most companies. In June 2024, INEVO began to work with Paradox Museum in Oslo. In this connection, we wondered what customers thought about the museum. We went to reviews on Google, cut and pasted all the feedback into a Google docSo let's say that this is the same thing as that. We then uploaded the PDF document and asked ChatGPT to read the more than 1800 feedback from the customers and give us a summary. It worked very well.
For managers and directors: Start by identifying which data sources are most relevant to your organisation. This may include sales data, customer feedback, market research or financial reports. Then use an AI tool to get deeper insight into this data. Remember that AI analysis should complement, not replace, human evaluation and experience in decision-making processes.
Seven. Ask AI to explain and improve their answers
AI models have access to vast amounts of information, and their answers can become increasingly accurate over time. To get the best use of AI, set follow-up questions like, "Why did you give that answer?", "Can you suggest other alternatives?" or "What might be weaknesses in this proposal?" Do not take the AI's first answer for given. By challenging the AI in this way, you can get deeper insight, more thought-out solutions and more shades of answers.
Practical example of INEVO: Here's the idea of Roadtrip 2024 in Kristiansand Last week. It resulted in good reference in Kristiansand’s NewsSo let's say that this is the same thing as that. Try to copy the text from the document into ChatGPT and ask the question, "What can be a weakness in this suggestion?" See what AI says about the idea, and then set follow-up questions to explore the theme deeper. This can provide valuable insights to improve the setup the next time we gather top managers from Norwegian online stores.
For managers and directors: Remember that AI does not always provide precise answers, but by asking follow-up questions and asking for explanations, you can get more shades and reliable results. Please ask the AI to justify its recommendations, explain any limitations in the response, or suggest alternative views. This helps you make more informed decisions and avoid potential pitfalls based on unilateral or superficial AI responses. By actively engaging with the AI tool and challenging its answers, you exploit its full potential as a valuable sparring partner in your leadership and governance.
Sources:
Thought Partner (Scott Galloway, 2024)
2024 Work Trend Index Annual Report (Linkedin & Microsoft, 2024)