Evolution of the species: New for 2023

It’s a pleasure to be back with you for another year of 5MSM. Thanks for all your messages over my summer break - I’m so glad you’re enjoying these short provocations each Friday. I want to start with a short update on me, and something exciting that I’ve been finalising over the summer break.

Over December & January I travelled in Mexico (the Yucatan Peninsula) and came home via Los Angeles. The latter kept my 13yo son, Jasper, happy (think sneakers, basketball, theme parks and fast food!).

But here’s a snapshot of something that filled me with joy in Mexico:?cenotes. They are underground caverns filled with freshwater; some have turtles and fish, some are dozens of metres deep - nearly all are amazing to swim in (except those the Aztecs used to throw sacrificial victims into!).

But there’s something else I’ve done over summer . . .

How to generate strategic insights

I field far more requests for strategy assistance than I’m personally able to fulfill, and in fact, several of my clients suggested I start to put some of my thinking into short video form. I already have published a book on strategy (if you’re reading this, you can?get a free copy here) but today I'm pleased to launch my new Strategy and Insights video platform.

Click here or on the image?below to see the first one on LinkedIn

This first video is a 10-minute distillation of my entire life's work! I’ve boiled down every strategy project I’ve ever run into a handful of what I call 'Insight Generating Questions'. For those of you who are leaders in your organisation, focused on making society a better place, these are the questions you need to ask to deliver on your mission.?

And, beyond this one, there is also a complete video platform with much more content which you can access via the button below.

5MSM Strategy & Insights Videos

Even better, if you don’t want to take notes, there is a 3-page companion document?summarising these questions for you available here.

Insight Generating Questions PDF

A very big shout-out to?Philip Bateman and his team at Bravo Charlie?for working with me to produce these videos. I can confidently say that once your organisation has its strategy sorted and you want to convey it powerfully to your stakeholders, I highly recommend talking with Philip. Tell him I sent you.

Now, back to regular programming!

Will this change the world?

I remember the first time I used a web browser and thought, "Good God. This will change the world". And it did.

I had the same reaction just recently with seeing products of the AI chat bot,?ChatGPT.?

A couple of examples: A public policy consultant colleague got ChatGPT to?write a positioning statement?for him. And, another consultant I know got it to?write a standard letter to a staff member?who’d passed their probation. I asked it to write a short memorial about someone who had passed away, and also to translate medical jargon into plain English so I could understand my 90yo mother’s latest ailment.

In all cases, it did a fine, if not outstanding, job.

In my view, ChatGPT and the like should be considered 'centaur' technologies. They augment human capability, not replace it, therefore, businesses ought to work out how to use these tools are foundational, and then add uniquely human capability to them.

The need for memorisation was replaced by printing in the early modern era; the need to mentally calculate was replaced by calculators and then computers in the late 20th century. The need for assembling information and writing purposefully is next.

And, from this comes the alarmism I see about ChatGPT: it will encourage lots of ‘lazy’ content that all looks the same; it will destroy students’ ability to research and write; it will completely upend our ideas about who ‘owns’ text. Perhaps all of these will be true, but it’s up to the strategists amongst us to work out how to use this amazing tool for good.

Question: How will this change?your?world?

Who should pay?

Take a look at this receipt for a meal I had in Los Angeles. I don’t want to comment on a humble cafe lunch for three costing AUD$200, nor the tipping culture that demands up to 25% additional. I’ve underlined the part I want to talk about.

I asked my server about it and he said, “It’s to pay for our health insurance”.

I knew that in the US, health coverage is linked to employment, so I asked, “But why is it charged separately?”

He said, “Our employer wants us to have good insurance, which costs more money than previously, so they need a way of paying for it.”

I don’t know about you, but this got me thinking.

It’s inarguable to me that all people get affordable healthcare, but why separate this charge out? And, if you do, why stop there? Why not itemise all employee costs as a separate charge? Oh, wait. They do. That’s what the tip pays for.

What we’re seeing here is a commercial culture that says, “We include?every?cost in our prices except two: our people, and taxes. You need to pay extra for those.” Is this any different to an airline charging separately for exit row seats and checked baggage? Or a theme park charging to skip the queues?

Question: What costs can you separate out before passing them onto your customers as a fee, a surcharge or a premium?

It’s a pleasure to be back with you for 2023. As always, click the heart to say you’ve enjoyed reading, and do pass on 5MSM to friends or colleagues who you think might like what you read here.

I’ll be back with you next Friday,

Andrew

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