I Thought I Knew Strategy Development – Then ChatGPT Blew My Mind

I Thought I Knew Strategy Development – Then ChatGPT Blew My Mind

It’s easy to get complacent about your strategy skills.  After all, our yearly “strategic planning” processes result in quarterly “strategic priorities” that require daily “strategic decisions.” So, it’s reasonable to assume that we know what we’re doing when it comes to strategy development.

I’ll admit I did. After all, I’ve written strategic plans for major brands, developed strategies for billion-dollar businesses, and teach strategy in a Masters program.

I thought I knew what I was doing.

Then ChatGPT proved me wrong.

 

How it Began

My student’s Midterm assignment for this semester is to develop, recommend, and support a strategy for the companies they’ve studied for the past seven weeks. Each week, we apply a different framework – Strategy Kernel, SWOT, Business Model Canvas, Porter’s 5 Forces, PESTLE, Value Chain – to a case study. Then, for homework, they apply the framework to the company they are analyzing.

Now, it’s time to roll up all that analysis and turn it into strategic insights and a recommended strategy.

Naturally, they asked me for examples.

I don’t have a whole lot of examples, and I have precisely none that I can share with them.

I quickly fed The LEGO Group’s Annual Report, Sustainability Report, and Modern Slavery and Transparency Statements into ChatGPT and went to work.

Two hours later, I had everything needed to make a solid case that LEGO needs to change its strategy due to risks with consumers, partners, and retailers. Not only that, the strategy was concise and memorable, with only 34 carefully chosen words waiting to be brought to life through the execution of seven initiatives.

Two hours after that, all of my genius strategic analysis had been poured into a beautifully designed and perfectly LEGO-branded presentation that, in a mere six slides, laid out the entire case for change (which was, of course, supported by a 10-page appendix).

 

The Moment

As I gazed lovingly at my work, I felt pretty proud of myself. I even toyed with the idea of dropping a copy off at LEGO’s Back Bay headquarters in case they needed some help.

I chuckled at my little daydream, knowing no one would look at it because no one asked for it, and no implementers were involved in creating it.

That’s when it hit me.

All the reasons my daydream would never become a reality also applied to every strategy effort I’ve ever been part of.

  • No one looks at your strategy because it’s just a box to check to get next year’s budget.
  • No one asks for it because they’re already working hard to maintain the status quo. They don’t have the time or energy to imagine a better future when they’re just trying to get through today.
  • No one responsible for implementing it was involved in creating it because strategy is created at high levels of the organization or outsourced to consultants.

What the strategy is doesn’t matter.*

What matters is how the strategy was created.

Conversation is the only way to create a successful, actionable, and impactful strategy.

Conversation with the people responsible for implementing it, they people on the ground and the front lines, the people dealing with the ripple effects of all those “strategic” decisions.

 

How It’s Going

Today, I’m challenging myself—and you—to make strategy a dialogue, not a monologue. To value participation over presentation. Because strategy without conversation isn’t strategy at all—it’s just a beautiful document waiting to be forgotten.

Who are you inviting into your next strategy conversation that isn’t usually there but should be? Share in the comments below.

The 12 Killers of Innovation: A Corporate Carol About Why You’re Not Getting Results

The 12 Killers of Innovation: A Corporate Carol About Why You’re Not Getting Results

Last week, InnoLead published a collection of 11 articles describing the root causes and remedies for killers of innovation in large organizations.  Every single article is worth a read as they’re all written by experts and practitioners whose work I admire.

I was also inspired.

In the spirit of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I gave into temptation, added my own failure mode, and decided to have a bit of fun.

The 12 Killers of Innovation
(Inspired by the 12 Days of Christmas yet relevant year-round)

On the twelfth day of innovating, management gave to me:

12 leaders short-term planning

11 long projects dragging

10 cultures resisting

9 decisions made too quickly

8 competing visions

7 goals left unclear

6 startups mistrusted

5 poorly defined risks

4 rigid structures

3 funding black holes

2 teams under-staffed

And a bureaucracy too entrenched to change

Want to write a happier song?

Each of the innovation killers can be fended off with enough planning, collaboration, and commitment.  To learn how, check out the articles:

12 leaders short-term planning – Why Innovation is a Leadership Problem by Robyn Bolton, MileZero

11 long projects dragging – Failing Slow by Clay Maxwell, Peer Insight

10 cultures resisting – How to Innovate When Resistance is Everywhere by Trevor Anulewicz, NTT DATA

9 decisions made too quickly – Red Light, Green Light by Doug Williams, SmartOrg Inc.

8 competing visions – The Five Most Common Innovation Failure Modes by Parker Lee, Territory Global

7 goals left unclear – Mitigating Common Failure Modes by Jim Bodio, BRI Associates

6 startups mistrusted – Developing a New Corporate Innovation Model by Satish Rao, Newlab

5 poorly defined risks – Strategic Innovation is too Scary by Gina O’Connor, Babson College

4 rigid structures – Corporate Innovation is Dead by Ryan Larcom, High Alpha Innovation

3 funding black holes – Failure Modes by Jake Miller, The Engineered Innovation Group

2 teams under-staffed – Why Innovation Teams Fail by Jacob Dutton, Future Foundry

And a bureaucracy too entrenched to change – Building Resilient Teams by Frank Henningsen, HYPE Innovation

How are you going to make sure that you receive gifts and not coal this year for all your innovation work?