I asked ChatGPT…

 I was visiting a new place last week. I was curious, so I  asked ChatGPT about it.   

 I got lots of information, a very detailed history and a whole series of facts. I could have written an essay on it. Which, in effect, is what the system had turned out.

However, I had to wade through the detail to pick out the interesting nuggets. I received information, but I had to make it meaningful. And I couldn’t clarity anything. Check my understanding. Ask questions or raise concerns.

I was given raw material, but I still had quite a lot to do. Which is why I am more sanguine than some about the implications of AI.  

At the moment, platforms like LinkedIn are awash with predictions that AI will decimate communications, that automation will replace current approaches in every working environment.

Of course, there will be changes. AI will no doubt bring benefits to effectiveness and efficiency, as it has done in different forms for some time. But the scale of impact – and relevance – will vary from workplace to workplace, and from culture to culture. And communication is so much more than the limited and linear Q&A interaction I experienced last week.

There is a long way to go before technology is more than a tool to help us make the right connections and build meaningful relationships with our people. To nurture a culture of two-way communication. To build common purpose across disparate groups.

ChatGPT and complementary AI tools can help us, not hinder or replace us. Let’s embrace them and explore the opportunities they may offer.  

The company walk

 A few years ago, my client Renishaw introduced me to their  ‘company walk’:  not a Monty Python-esque affectation, but an informal practice that has become part of that organisation’s HQ culture. It struck me as a simple step to aid physical and mental wellbeing.

The HQ site contains a range of offices, labs and manufacturing facilities. It takes 10-15 minutes to walk around the perimeter path (depending on your pace!). During my visits, I would often see people following that path, particularly at lunchtime: in groups, in pairs or on their own.

This, I was told, is the company walk. People use it to exercise, to hold walking meetings or simply to disconnect from their desk or lab bench. I tried it myself on a few occasions with my clients. Not only did we develop a few ideas as we strolled around the site, we also returned to the office refreshed and re-focused for the rest of the day. 

Although this HQ is a self-contained site, I can see the idea working just as well in a city, with a route embracing some quiet streets and/or local landmarks.

Sometimes, simple and effective solutions are right in front of us.

The power of trojan horse questions

Unable to  leave my desk to attend Attune 23 this week, as I had planned, I sated my  thirst for knowledge by revisiting some of the presentations in FirstUp’s on-demand library (which is worth checking out if you haven’t already done so). One of these was from the author Jon Acuff, who introduced an interesting concept during his talk: ‘trojan horse questions’.

His keynote tackled a much broader topic; this was simply a concept he referenced along the way. However, it really resonated with me. He positioned ‘trojan horse’ questions as phrases that are clear, simple and don’t seem that challenging, but which should make us think much more deeply than the words themselves suggest. I won’t spoil the context, for anyone who has yet to watch Jon’s speech, but one example was “Is it true?” – the idea being that we need to challenge whether what we are telling ourselves about a situation, and which guides our actions, is really valid.

The best question I have ever been asked was ‘What is your ideal day?’. This simple but deceptively powerful question had a profound impact on me as I considered whether to start Sweet Comms, nearly 10 years ago. I now recognise it as a ‘trojan horse’ question, because on the surface it’s fairly innocuous. It could spark a bland or throwaway response in the course of conversation. Yet, in the circumstances, it prompted me to do a lot of soul searching and steered me on to the path I took then, and for which I am still grateful on a daily basis, even now.

I can only share my own experience, but engaging with that simple question, really engaging with it, was incredibly effective. I’ve posed the same question to others in similar situations and I know they have found it useful. Maybe more engagement with ‘trojan horse’ questions could help us all.

What is the meaning of work?

Discussions around the meaning of work are always  fascinating. They can become quite conceptual, which is frustrating, but the  aim of exploring what really helps us feel fulfilled is laudable.

Although, from my perspective, it is a doomed quest.  

As I have written in this blog before, we respond to work in different ways and my purpose may not be the same as yours. For example, the protagonist in the track quoted above does not derive much meaning from his work, he uses work as a means to an end. He is not alone, but others will see work as giving their life wider meaning. We all have our own personal value systems.  

At an event I attended a few years ago, one of the panellists talked about interviewing circus performers about how they found meaning in their work. They could not discern any differentiation between what was and wasn’t work: it was all a way of life for them.

So organisations can’t appeal to everyone in exactly the same way, and should not try to. Over the years, I have watched from afar as different companies have tried to use fancy tools and tactics to push a pre-determined notion and inspire alignment across very different groups of people. These quite quickly become programmes akin to a house built on sand.

It’s far better to look inwardly, to articulate why the company is in business and to really engage employees in that process: finding out what inspires them and what it is about the company’s aims that really resonates with them.

An engagement exercise of this nature – one for which the solution is really open for discussion and to contributions – can help you find the ‘sweet spot’ for your organisation. A solution that articulates and reflects the factors that align and inspire ostensibly very different employee groups.

‘Common purpose’, if you will.

What is your ideal day? (reprise)

I posted this blog a few years ago and as we start a new year - when thoughts can turn to 'what can I do differently this year?' - I thought I would share again in case others find it helpful 

A few years ago, when I was weighing up the next step in my career, I was asked a profound question that really helped me crystallise things. I thought I would share it in case it also helps you.

I was canvassing a range of contacts, clients and former colleagues about what my next move should be. One of them asked me this: “What is your ideal working day?”. 

The question was simple, yet deceptively powerful. It encouraged me to strip away all the different factors and considerations that might otherwise have clouded my thinking. It made me focus on exactly what it is that inspires, excites and motivates me every day and enables me to do my best for the people I work with and for.

It helped me crystallise what I wanted to be doing on the road ahead and led me to set up the communication consultancy I have been running ever since. Without considering that question, and working out how I could bring my ideal day to life, I might not have done things the way I have, or maybe enjoyed it as much as I have.

Everyone’s ‘ideal working day’ is different, and the answer will change over time. I had different views 20 years ago, when I first entered this industry. My aims and priorities will no doubt evolve further in the years ahead. But asking myself the same question every now and then will help me assess this and make sure I’m still doing what I truly want to.

If you’re in a similar position now, or considering your future career path, I’d encourage you to consider that same question. It might give you the clarity or focus you need.

I found my ideal day. I hope you find yours.

Communicating strategy – the how as well as the what

Without  wishing to delve too deeply into the kerfuffle within the UK government over  the past fortnight, there is an obvious lesson from the presentation of the so-called ‘mini-Budget’.

If you are going to communicate a strategy, fiscal or otherwise, at least give some indication of how you are going to achieve it.

Much of the debate following the Chancellor’s statement has focused on the lack of explanation of how the tax cuts it contained will be funded. Two weeks on, we’re none the wiser. We’re all awaiting a further statement later in the month – brought forward from November as a result of the furore.

This demonstrates how uneasy people feel when any kind of lofty ambition is unveiled without information on how that ambition will be achieved. On their own, headlines achieve nothing: we all need to understand what they mean and any role we have to play in delivering the plan in practice.

This is highly relevant to strategy communications, with which some organisations still struggle. They either provide too little information, so that the strategy feels nebulous and somewhat empty, or they drown people in detail. Either approach undermines the need to connect and communicate with the people on whom the organisation relies to lift plans ‘off the paper’.

Understanding audience needs – and planning your communications accordingly – is vital to striking the right balance. It appears the UK government failed to appreciate what audiences such as the financial markets might require to engage with and feel confident in the plans it announced. Let’s hope they find a way to resolve this in the coming weeks.

No heart-warming Cinderella story

 In more  than 25 years in this field, so much has changed. Unfortunately, some things  have not.

 It amazes  me that when change is being announced – whatever the scale – some companies still do not prioritise communication with the people affected. We used to talk about the risk of employees reading the news while eating their cornflakes, now we highlight the risk of leaks through social media. The context has changed, but the principle remains the same: reach the people affected first.

This simple, enduring principle does not appear to have been followed yesterday, when the musical Cinderella was cancelled. Some cast members found out through social media. People who were due to take up new roles in a few weeks, when there was due to be a cast change, started to hear they were being let down from others, not from their prospective employer. Much uproar and anger have followed, garnering national headlines that focus on the way the news was announced rather than the closure of the show.

What any company in this position should do is have a rapid and robust contact programme that prioritises those affected and plans practical ways of reaching them in a very short timeframe. Perhaps The Really Useful group will reflect that announcing the closure on a Bank Holiday Sunday, and sending emails to agents when they are not going to be in the office, might not have been the best course of action.

Whatever the reasons for the closure – and perhaps there was a pressing commercial reason why it had to be announced yesterday - better planning and execution were required. Instead of understanding the rationale for the closure, but reflecting on the company’s responsible approach to those affected, we are now talking and hearing about the callous and uncaring way in which the news was communicated.

The announcement has become the story – and that is never a good look for any company.