This is becoming a familiar exchange:
“What’s the big deal if our [strategic plan / brand messaging / marketing copy] was generated largely by an LLM. Most people won’t know, and instead of spending time laboring over the strategy documents, we’ll use that time to move with speed to execute on those documents.”
It's pushback I frequently hear from LLMers, people who — sometimes on their own, mostly at the behest of their superiors — feel required to accelerate the speed of their work with the tools at their disposal. You know the tools.
Because you have been led to believe that speed and efficiency — above all things — are the hallmarks of businesses that move fast and break things. They say it’s an unmistakable precursor to shareholder value, to profit and growth.
As one of my mentors was fond of saying, politely: “Well, that’s one way to do it.”
I learned quickly what that meant: we’re not doing it that way. And I think she would respond accordingly today to the worship of speed over experience, sometimes the long and arduous experiences required to gain the wisdom worthy of a seat at the table.
***
If you view your work through the lens of building and preserving reputational capital as I do, then keep this in mind:
What is your response when the client (internally or externally) questions the plan, the logic and thinking, why this direction instead of a different one… one that seems more aligned with industry nuances or a client-specific focus? If you wrote it, labored over its purpose, meaning and intent, it becomes defendable.
What is your expert perspective when the strategy documents prove to be misguided, or misaligned with your values, or fail to move the needle? If you wrote it, you would likely spot the mistake of your making, then rewrite or course-correct accordingly.
Your goal isn’t to create a strategy, messaging, or copy faster for implementation.
You are to create a strategy worth activating, which requires a give and take of priorities and intent, weighing what matters versus what matters even more right now; what’s good enough versus what separates you from your competitors.
Doing the work affords invaluable time for drafting, thinking, mulling, editing, questioning, revising, listening and taking ideas to their breaking point — in essence, discovering what you’re capable of. This is what gets revealed in doing the deep, sometimes laborious work in contrast to prompting and generating output.
It does not appear in a matter of seconds – at least the distinctive work doesn’t.
People will spend precious time looking for a cheat code that, when it appears to exist, serves as a poor substitute for actual work and wisdom. That’s why there is no cheat code for doing the work, despite the promises.
Which is why it is good to pause and remember what you’re building.
To build a business, a customer base, a stream of repeatable sales, a team and a culture against a set of values you hold dear – you are first building trust.
Trust that draws upon wisdom and experience, upon the numerous drafts that get modified and eventually become agreed-upon plans. It’s in the way the work appears imperfect, up until the moment it finally feels right.
It’s a trust that humbly says – my experiences, knowledge and insights aren’t perfect, but they are deeply considered in relation to this work and to our work together.
Consider this as well:
Once trust is compromised and lost, you’ll have a weightier problem on your hands.
The kind that speed and efficiency cannot compensate for.
The kind that says – remember how we did this before the tool became the answer?