A Strategic AI-opener

Recently, I have been working with a client with wide and outdated charitable objects. And – perhaps uniquely - none of the trustees or staff really had any idea what the charity should be for now.

I was asked to help them develop a Theory of Change and a Strategic Plan. I asked what they wanted to change – they didn’t know!

So I planned my usual process of Zoom interviews with the Trustees, to be followed by an in-person strategy day.

Just before I started the Zoom conversations, the Director emailed to say he couldn’t resist asking AI to suggest a strategy! He had asked Chat GPT for 2 versions – a straightforward strategy, and a ‘radical’ one.

My heart sank! I’m not a fan of AI anyway, and I feared the trustees might settle for the ‘easy option’, rather than go through the process that I had planned.

Then I read the two versions - and my heart sank further – they were really rather good! Who needs a consultant anyway?!

But then I realised – nobody ‘owned’ these plans. Nobody had sweated over them, argued about them – or even come up with the ideas in the first place!

What to do? That’s when I had my AI-opener! I could put up the AI-generated standard and radical Vision and Mission Statement and Objectives, and use them as discussion prompts.

When I am conducting Zoom interviews I normally have my main questions typed up in advance, then build on the answers with supplementary questions. But this time, to keep interviewees really focussed and force them to answer my questions (i.e. force them off the fence!) I put my questions, together with the AI-generated sections of text, onto PowerPoint slides, which I shared during each interview.

This worked brilliantly. First, the interviewees remained focussed and stuck to the point when answering my questions. Second, they could tell me what they did and didn’t like about each of the statements (which was the main question I was asking them).

Interestingly, when I told each interviewee that the text I would be showing them was AI-generated, most of them sighed, or displayed other forms of scepticism. But then, like me, when they saw they statements they thought they were really rather good. But of course they each had some comments or concerns or suggestions about some of the words.

All this meant that when we met up for the strategy day, I was able to play back to them collectively, their individual responses (no names, obviously), and they were able to have a real debate about the key points in each statement.

The result was a strong Vision and Mission statement, and some first thoughts about strategic objectives. These versions bore some similarity to the AI-generated versions, and interestingly blended together elements of the ‘standard’ and ‘radical’ versions. But the trustees were really excited to have together debated and agreed these statements, which were truly ‘theirs’.

The next day I met with the staff, who (other than the Director) had deliberately not been involved in the process thus far because we wanted to encourage the Trustees to make and own decisions of their own. But when the staff saw what the trustees had come up with and signed off on, they were amazed and delighted.

So – a bit of an AI-opener for me, because I could see how AI can helpfully provide raw material – should that be needed. And an AI-opener for the clients, who finally know – and now own – what the charity they are trustees of is actually for!