On ChatGPT

I’m late to the game with any form of commentary on generative AI tools such as ChatGPT. Regardless, here are my thoughts on the matter:

1. They are here to stay.

2. They are wonderful tools.

3. Current iterations need to be supervised by a warm body

4. Those that adopt their business model to include generative AI will experience a competitive advantage over their competition. Eventually the competitors will catch up but early adopters will hopefully experience a cultural change that will enable them to continue to embrace future technologies thus sneaking ahead of their competitors exponentially over time.

5. If you deny the usefulness of these tools you will eventually become irrelevant.

Here are some examples of how I’ve used ChatGPT:

1. To draft a business plan - ChatGPT got me started with the mundane wording that I would have had to piece together. By outsourcing the mundane I was able to put my energy and best effort into the actual plan.

2. Drafting emails, which I had to customize and edit - internal team emails as well as emails regarding a performance improvement plan

3. Building a leadership training plan for my industry - again, the tool built the standard language and I filled in the specifics

4. Developing an application for team member to apply to a leadership program

5. I used the tool to walk through a mock client scenario as a training exercise to show how replaceable some services are

6. I copied in an a CSV file of data and prompted the tool to build a P&L

7. I used the tool with my wife to develop a name for her business.

Keys to using the tool(s):

1. Remember they are tools

2. Learn how to use prompts. You are directing the program through prompts. This is a communicative programming tasks. Good communicators will have a huge advantage here (sorry stereotypical accountants).

I’m old enough to remember when my parents connected to the internet for the first time as a kid. I remember the encyclopedia in my parents’ library becoming immediately obsolete as information was suddenly at my fingertips (though programs such as Encarta, remember that one!). Generative AI is a continuation of that relationship with data and tools. Rather than a reference tool, it is a tool to partner with, to really level up operations.

A Change is Brewing

Something is up in accounting firms across the land. A generation of founders and their disciples are looking at the next generation. The older generation is offering the fruit of their labor, if the younger generation plays the game the way its always been played. The younger generation is staring back in defiance. They don’t like the game. You see, to the younger generation, the up and coming partners, their career in public accounting IS NOT A GAME!

Their career is public accounting is:

• An opportunity to impact the world around them.

• A means to provide for their family, to teach their children work, and to leave a legacy.

• To impact the community that they choose to reside in

• A chance to provide employment and outstanding careers for those colleagues following in their footsteps

Its not a game. Its not a smoky clubhouse filled with martyrs who celebrate how many hours they worked. Its not a place to degrade the current generation because their path is different. Its not a place to idolize the latest new client with total disregard to the team members who actually have to carry the burden.

Public accounting firms have been operated like a pinball machine. You tilt the machine, you slap the flipper, you pound the glass, you look like a fool…..all in an effort to achieve a high score….that doesn’t matter anymore. In public accounting, you manipulate the service line, you oversell the business, you overcommit your staff…all for the sake of generating a gross revenue line that is compared against other firms that are playing the same game.

The younger generation is saying No More!

Book Review - A Failure of Nerve

"A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix" is a book by Edwin H. Friedman. I find it interesting that Mr. Friedman is a rabbi who was a political consultant to 3 presidencies. The book focuses on the role of leaders and their impact on organizations and communities, and argues that effective leadership requires a strong and resilient nervous system. In short, the book emphasizes that leader must do what is right, not what is popular, comfortable or friendly.

The author asserts that leaders must be able to manage their own anxiety and emotions, as well as the anxiety and emotions of those they lead, in order to achieve success. He contends that leaders who lack emotional intelligence and the ability to manage anxiety and stress can lead to a "failure of nerve" and negatively impact organizations and communities.

The book also explores the importance of boundary management and the need for leaders to maintain clear boundaries between themselves and their constituents, in order to maintain their independence and effectiveness.

Overall, I found "A Failure of Nerve" to be a thought-provoking examination of leadership and the critical role of emotional intelligence and boundary management in effective leadership. The author argues that the majority of society’s short comings originate from a failure of nerve within leadership in government, corporations and at home with the family. Today’s leaders do not lack the skill, data, or methods to be successfully leaders. They simply lack the nerve to truly lead.