Are you a little sick and tired of being fire-hosed with the latest and greatest on AI? Yeah, me too.
And yet… I am also genuinely fascinated with what it can do.
So, let me share what I have been learning – practically, on the ground, with my Team – about working with AI effectively. No hype. Just what is working.
Step One – Pick One or Two Tools and Stick With Them
First things first. Beware of shiny object syndrome.
There is a new AI tool launching every single week. It is tempting to jump from one to the next, sampling each one like a buffet. Resist that urge.
Right now, I am highly focused on Claude. I have a Teams account and have enrolled most of my Team in using it. Why Claude? Because I have gone deep with it. Depth beats breadth every time.
Before you dive in, ask yourself – what do I actually want to accomplish with this? Start there. Then pick your tool and commit.
What Can It Actually Do? More Than You Think.
Start simple. Here are a few easy wins to get going:
- Reformatting emails so they sound clear and professional
- Writing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) from scratch
- Summarizing long documents in seconds
But go a little further and it gets impressive fast.
Claude’s design work is stunning. I used it to create a standard look and feel for our Controller’s Reports across all of our clients. Clean, consistent, professional.
It maneuvers through Excel like Circ’ de Soleil. Seriously.
And now? It connects directly to our accounting software – Xero and QuickBooks Online.
A Real-Life Example That Blew My Mind
One of our Team members recently asked me if Claude could update hundreds of contacts in Xero for currency settings.
Manually, this was a painful, repetitive task. Open a contact. Scroll to the currency field. Click the dropdown. Choose USD or CAD. Save. Close. Repeat. Hundreds of times.
Claude could not write directly to the contacts because Xero only provides read-only access. But then it asked – “Would you like me to build a program?”
I said sure – for fun!
Using the Xero API, Claude built a custom software interface. In minutes, it updated hundreds of contacts – with one click of a button.
That is not just impressive. That is a game-changer for productivity.
Think of Yourself as the Director – Not the Programmer
Here is a mental shift that changed everything for me.
Do not think of AI as just computer code. Think of it like you are the human director on a movie set. AI is an improvisational actor, ready to play any role you give it.
The sky is the limit with the roles you assign. Try something like this – “You are a PhD-level scientist who has studied weather patterns in sub-Saharan Africa for 90 years.”
You get the idea. The more specific and vivid the role, the better the performance you will get.
And Here’s the Part That Might Surprise You – Be Polite
In using Claude, I am super polite and friendly. Please. Thank you. That sort of thing.
Is that a bit over the top? Perhaps. Yet I genuinely believe I get much better responses as a result.
Think about it this way. If AI functions more like an actor – or a series of actors, depending on what you need – then wouldn’t it make sense to coax out the very best performance possible?
I cannot prove it scientifically. But I feel it works better with kindness.
Just like your Team does.
In Summary
Here are the key takeaways to get the most out of AI in your business:
- Pick one or two tools and go deep. Avoid shiny object syndrome.
- Start with simple tasks – emails, SOPs, formatting – and build from there.
- Think like a director, not a programmer. Give it a vivid role to play.
- Be specific about what you want it to accomplish.
- Be kind. You may be surprised at the results.
Thanks for reading…