I've been using ChatGPT to see how it answers business questions. From the generic ("Why do business owners feel overworked?") through practical ("Give me a method for systemising my business") to the detailed ("How do I improve my sales process?") the answers have been thorough, concise and correct (if we define correct as meaning answers I would be happy to give).
Does that mean business coaches and consultants like me are out of a job? I don't think so - not yet.
The information provided by the AI system is already available to business owners, in books and blogs. The system reduces the effort required to locate and correlate it, but if access to information was all that was required for business owners to improve their business then we (coaches and consultants) would have been out of a job long ago.
So whilst information is a necessary part of helping a business owner improve their business, what other things are needed? I tried thinking about this in two ways; the process and the capabilities.
Here's a model of the "Business owner improving her business" process (omitting repetitions and feedback):
- Recognise the problem
- Imagine a solution
- Formulate the question
- Understand the answer
- Plan and organise the change
- Successfully execute the change
Here's a list of capabilities our business owner might need in order to make change happen, again, omitting linkages for clarity:
- Imagination
- Knowledge
- Intelligence
- Leadership
- Organisation
- Confidence
You can picture these two lista forming a matrix (or maybe it's only business consultants who think like that). "Understand the answer" requires strength in, say, intelligence, imagination and knowledge. "Successfully execute the change" might require strength in leadership, organisation and confidence, and so on.
The coach or consultant has to not only provide the necessary information but also help their client overcome any deficiencies in their ability to follow the change process - to fill the gaps in the matrix. The coach has to provide support, encouragement and focus whilst their client struggles with the human soup and random happenings that make up business.
I am confident that, if we don't destroy the planet first, true AI that can provide more than information will emerge. But for now, ChatGPT seems like a) a great way to make my life easier and b) an interesting (for me) insight into where I actually provide value.
If you'd like to get some help with your business (from a real human) then contact me through this website.
