The disruption impacting management consulting is a warning signal for every knowledge-based profession.
AI can now do research, generate strategic options, and automate workflows with intelligent agents. This means that every high-paid thinking role (including executives, strategists, and transformation professionals) are now exposed to the same shift.
Leaders are already asking: If AI can do the “thinking work”, where do humans create value next? Today I’d like to give you 3 practical tips to protect your own strategic value.
What’s Changing in Strategy and Project Work
“It’s misleading that AI can do Management Consulting. It’s hype and drama” someone commented on my post about this.
So I posted this: “Let me be clear: It’s not just hype. It’s reality.”
It’s now gone viral with over 55,000 views. Feel free to add your questions and comments to the post.
Today, I’d like to share my thoughts on the closely-related topic: what is changing in Strategy and Project Work in the AI-era. I know this from my consulting career (McKinsey, Accenture, 25 years working independently in long-term Program Manager roles, and strategy execution), from using AI extensively in my business, client work and building my own agents. I can see firsthand what the tech can do (and can’t), and I can see exactly how fast it’s maturing (eg when I’m impatiently waiting for vendors to fix their bugs). I’ve used AI to do the work of a team of 5 (I talk about this in the Australian Financial Review (AI consulting time saved, and AI quality checks). And I’ve replaced my part-time Assistant (VA) with AI.
So here are the shifts I’m seeing:
The Strategy Shift in the AI Era
If you’d like to discuss these shifts further, and join practical conversations with peers who are working on real projects in complex environments, please join us in The Turbochargers Hub.
3 Tips to Protect your Value
So let’s look at how you can protect our own skills and the value you deliver.
1. Develop Implementation Capability
Don’t just produce strategy packs, provide value by building relationships trust, and implementing real changes. Shift from delivering outputs to delivering outcomes. Others will develop more confidence in you. Our value now sits in shortening time to get things done: piloting, securing buy-in, delivering tangible work practice change.
This applies right up to CEO level. I expect that savvy Boards will be less impressed by long, deep strategy exercises, and expect faster tangible improvements.
2. Build Culture Intelligence
To deliver tangible outcomes, we need to understand how to navigate through culture. AI can recommend a path (eg ask ChatGPT to draft you a Change Plan), but only humans can navigate politics, timing, resistance, and momentum-building. If you have Culture Intelligence, you will be hard to replace. The Turbochargers Hub content is designed around this.
3. Keeping building your AI skills
Learn how to use AI to accelerate your strategic work. Free up 20 minutes a day, or one hour a week to get started. Ask ChatGPT what is the best way to learn. Or there is lots of content out there on YouTube to inspire you. Or do a course or join a membership.
A final note on skills. Most surveys I’ve seen say that over 80% of people in organizations want more AI training. Don’t wait. Learn by experimenting. Join a community like The Turbochargers Hub. You receive less than 5% of the ideas in these emails. The good stuff is in The Hub, curated and distilled for you to get you up to speed fast, and keep you up to speed without wasting any time. Email me if you’d like access or click here.
“When you’re thirsty, it’s too late to be thinking about digging a well.”
Greg Isenberg, entrepreneur (one of my favourite podcasters)
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.
A bespoke in-house Bootcamp is the fastest way to learn. Get the skills your teams need to go from Strategy to Plan to Results. AI optional. Bootcamp info here.
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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 with culture intelligence and AI.
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.