Get More From Your Next Strategy Workshop

It’s hard to focus on content AND process

Most CEOs and execs I work with are time-poor and idea-rich. They want to lead from the front on innovation and AI, but don’t want to get bogged down in designing the strategy process or facilitating planning sessions.

So when a CEO of a high growth tech firm asked me to run her AI strategy process, it was so she could contribute to the discussion, not worry about running workshops. It is tough for executives to focus on the content, when they simultaneously need to orchestrate what is happening in the room.

Today I share 3 tips from that experience to help you get more value from your own planning sessions. Although I will focus on AI Strategy, the principles apply to any strategic workshop process. If you want to know more on how to plan for AI, sign up for my live one hour AI masterclass here.

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Developing a breadth and depth of ideas

Their business challenge was to shape the next phase of an AI-native product.

We embarked on a straightforward, structured planning process that I designed with the CEO to meet the business where it’s at. It started with deep customer and business partner research. We iterated through various options, using Generative AI to enhance ideation and flesh out some of the ideas. I then facilitated a series of 2 workshop involving members of their board and team. You can see more of this Tech firm’s strategy process here.

Kudos to this wonderful team, HowToo who generated and prioritised a range of high quality, well-developed ideas with innovative AI use cases. I’m pleased to share how the CEO, Lisa Vincent described it:

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3 tips to get more from your next AI Strategy Session

1. Design the process, not just the workshop:
   It is always a considerable investment of time bringing multiple people into a room together. It needs to be justified with a valuable outcome. This makes it even more important to design the process around your workshop(s), not just the workshop itself in isolation. Doing your homework before a workshop optimises the time in the room. We iterated with customer research and Generative AI before the workshop. This gave us a serious head start. It meant we could spend our time in the workshop refining, deepening, prioritising, not starting from scratch.

2. Get the right stakeholders in the room
   When you involve your board, your team, and your partners, and ask the right questions, you unlock big ideas fast. It is certainly more challenging with a hybrid approach (some in the physical room, some via Zoom), but very worthwhile. When you have the right mix of people, then the understanding and buy-in to the strategy is significant. This is a fundamental of open strategy processes. I’ve seen this on over 50 implementations – this engagement paves the way for easier implementation. In fact, in open strategy processes like this, you begin implementation and change, during your strategy development process.

3. Build AI into your solutions
   I know not all organisations are using AI yet. Whatever your industry, your strategy, your products or services, I urge you to consider how your business can benefit from AI. The variety of features and solutions you can build and/or augment with AI is mind-blowing!

These tips are aimed to help you think in new ways about your strategy process. Remember, you don’t have to shape the strategic outcome and run the workshop. When executives take the facilitator hat off, they often contribute sharper insights. That’s where I come in. Want help designing and facilitating your next planning session? Let’s talk.

PS More ways to accelerate your strategy

Looking to move your strategy forward? Lisa Carlin works with selected clients directly to go from strategy to plan to result. Email Lisa.

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About Lisa Carlin

Lisa Carlin is a Strategy Execution Specialist. She works with business leaders to go from strategy to plan to result, in tough environments. Her clients love having her expertise and guidance to navigate their workplace culture and use AI to achieve success.

Lisa is author of the globally acclaimed newsletter, Turbocharge Weekly, read by 8,000 business leaders.

Lisa’s career includes roles at McKinsey and Accenture, then running her own business since 1999. Over this time she has delivered over 50 implementations with a 96% success rate.

PPS A practical Strategic Roadmap to leverage AI

For many businesses, it’s hard to know where to start with AI. It doesn’t have to be.

Join me live for one focused hour masterclass to help you plan and execute AI with clarity and speed. In the first 20 minutes, you’ll get:

• A sharp update on the AI developments that matter for business leaders

• A checklist to identify execution risks – from culture to data to decision rights

• A 90-day AI strategy execution roadmap you can use immediately with your team