AI, and how it relates to my work as a Story Strategist

In a recent blog post, Marketing godfather, Seth Godin, reassured us that,

“AI pushes us to do what we actually get paid to do: make decisions… Reclaiming agency pushes us away from, “I’m just doing my job,” and into, “I made that.”

I would like to advocate for how, when we have more time to focus on talking to each other - sharing our stories and listening to others’ - we can prioritise the good work that we are best placed to do as humans to inform change for the better in this world.

Whilst it is very important to talk about how it is making us feel that “robots” may now be able to do much of our work for us, I think we can positively focus on getting out of the weeds and concentrate on our intentions for better business decisions, better inclusivity, smarter positioning in a market and more generous giving back in society.

I have always enjoyed writing and I pride myself on my attention to grammatical detail and style. Now, however, as Godin says in the same blog post, “new AI grammar tools make it trivially easy to make edits or find errors.” 

For many people for whom drafting blog posts and other marketing material, I understand that this is a welcome change. Rather than spending hours writing, those responsible for getting out a message - a story - can now focus on what they want to say, as opposed to syntax.

That being said, we will always be responsible for double checking what the robot does, giving it our blessing, and publishing it. That requires decision-making, conscious intention, agency and purpose. 

This is what I support businesses I work with to foster. The work becomes far more enjoyable and sustainable if we can remain emotionally close to it and yet far enough away to be objective... Open to support and change - from ourselves and from our people and communities.

“I’d love it if…”

When I start to work with a business, the first thing we do is what I call the “I’d love it if…” exercise - potentially on a nice walk. 

No AI tool can replace the intimate conversation required for a business founder to think, and get clear, about their Vision, Mission, Who, What and Why - that must come from human experience, decision-making and discussion. 

Once we are clear on this “Working Manifesto”, we dive into your Heritage Story and Story of Change, and who should sit at your “Round Table” … your employees, customers and community members all of whom could be your agents of change, influencers and cheerleaders.

With better systems and technology available to us as humans, we can focus on prioritising strategic decisions and the journey we would like our people to go on.

Being able to zoom out enough to appreciate the bigger picture means we have capacity to consider what else we can do to support our people outside of the scope of our product, recruitment and sales. 

We might have more time to engage in our communities and activation of local endeavours that benefit wider society and the environment.

More headspace leads to better decisions and a streamlined businesses. When limited budgets are available for training and capacity building, supporting and rewarding customers and employees and doing good in the community, this headspace really helps.

AI will not be able to create your ‘Heritage Story’ or ‘Story of Change’, though it might help you refine it and spread the word more widely. With my help and guidance.

You will need to decide who your ‘Very Important People’ are - who is required to be involved in getting the best story to make you stand out. And AI will never replace the feeling of getting together “in real life” for some good old fashioned, human creativity as a team, time in nature or an intimate conversation.

It cannot help you make decisions about where best to spend your time and energy, who to hire or how to engage your teams. It cannot replace a sense of personal commitment to your customers or your community. And this is the work I would like to support you in… the important stuff.