A POSSIBLE SESSION FOR YOUR TEAM
Sample course outline — adapted after a planning conversation.
AI as a Thought Partner
Use questions, drafts and challenges to work through a business decision. Practice separating evidence from assumptions and recording what still needs checking.
Proposed: one 120-minute workshop, including a 10-minute break.
Proposed: a laptop and a team-approved text AI tool. Tool and access requirements agreed during planning; practice uses pasted fictional text.
This example is a starting point. Scope, timing, tools and deliverables are agreed together before a session.
WHO IT SERVES
Is this your next step?
Owners and team members who already use AI occasionally and want a repeatable way to develop ideas.
Before the session
- Able to start an AI conversation and revise a prompt.
- Comfort reading a short business scenario.
PRACTICE & TAKEAWAYS
Work you can try.
What you will practice
- Use a short AI interview to identify missing decision criteria.
- Compare options against supplied evidence without treating guesses as facts.
- Revise a decision note after a focused challenge.
What you can leave with
- An interview → draft → challenge → refine prompt pattern.
- A one-page sample decision note with assumptions and unanswered questions.
- A source-check and human-review checklist.
PROPOSED AGENDA / 120 MINUTES
From first example to review.
Open each section for the exercise, output and review check. All practice uses fictional or anonymized material.
01Interview before drafting25 min
Purpose. Establish the decision and constraints.
Learning outcome. List criteria and questions that would change the decision.
Explain or demonstrate. Ask AI for three clarifying questions before suggesting an answer.
Hands-on practice. For the fictional delivery-service choice below, write the goal and constraints, then request three questions. Mark answers unavailable in the brief as unknown.
Your output. A short decision brief.
Review check. Criteria come from the source or are labeled proposed; missing answers stay unknown.
Prerequisites. Basic AI prompting.
Proposed time: 25 minutes, including the explanation, practice and review.
02Compare the evidence30 min
Purpose. Create a draft that can be checked.
Learning outcome. Build an option comparison and a conditional recommendation.
Explain or demonstrate. Separate quoted facts, arithmetic and assumptions in a comparison.
Hands-on practice. Compare the two fictional services against the weekly budget and delivery requirement. Draft a note that explains the tradeoff.
Your output. A comparison table and draft decision note.
Review check. Costs and service coverage match the brief; reliability is not assumed.
Prerequisites. Decision brief from section 1.
Proposed time: 30 minutes, including the explanation, practice and review.
03Break10 min
Purpose. Pause before reviewing the draft.
Learning outcome. Return ready to examine the comparison.
Explain or demonstrate. No demonstration during the break.
Hands-on practice. Step away from the screen.
Your output. No course artifact.
Review check. Resume with the saved draft available.
Prerequisites. Draft saved.
Proposed time: 10 minutes, including the explanation, practice and review.
04Challenge the draft30 min
Purpose. Find weak reasoning before a person decides.
Learning outcome. Identify one unsupported assumption and one question worth verifying.
Explain or demonstrate. Give a separate conversation a customer-service reviewer role and only the relevant brief and draft; explain that the role supplies a perspective, not expertise.
Hands-on practice. Ask the reviewer to challenge the recommendation. Accept or reject each objection using the source. If no unsupported assumption appears, review this seeded claim: “The more expensive vendor is more reliable.” No reliability evidence was supplied; identify what to verify.
Your output. An objection list with a response to each item.
Review check. At least one review point is grounded in the supplied facts; the reviewer invents no evidence.
Prerequisites. Draft and source brief.
Proposed time: 30 minutes, including the explanation, practice and review.
05Refine and hand off25 min
Purpose. Leave a clear record for the decision owner.
Learning outcome. Produce a revised note with a conditional choice and unresolved checks.
Explain or demonstrate. Show a short note with decision, reasons, assumptions and next questions.
Hands-on practice. Revise the note and name a human role responsible for checking missing information.
Your output. A reviewed one-page decision note and reusable prompt pattern.
Review check. A reader can identify the proposed choice, its conditions and what remains unverified.
Prerequisites. Comparison and reviewed objections.
Proposed time: 25 minutes, including the explanation, practice and review.
TRY A REPRESENTATIVE EXERCISE
Compare two delivery services
Fictional practice material
Fictional Oak Street Bakery needs Tuesday and Friday deliveries. Weekly delivery budget: $100. Route A quotes $90 per week and serves Tuesday and Friday. Route B quotes $70 per week and serves Friday only. Reliability, contract terms and cancellation fees are unknown.
Example prompt
Compare Route A and Route B for Oak Street Bakery using only the supplied facts. Requirements: Tuesday and Friday delivery; weekly budget $100. A: $90/week, both days. B: $70/week, Friday only. Reliability, terms and cancellation fees are unknown. Give a conditional recommendation and three questions to verify before deciding. Do not assume missing facts.
Illustrative expected output
One acceptable example, not a guaranteed AI response.
Route A fits both required days and is $10 below the weekly budget. Route B is $30 below budget but does not cover Tuesday. Route A is the better fit on the supplied criteria, subject to verification. Before deciding: What reliability evidence is available? What contract terms apply? Are there cancellation fees?
Check the result. The comparison preserves the missing Tuesday service, shows correct budget differences and treats the recommendation as conditional.
BEFORE WE MEET
What your team provides.
- Choose a decision or document type the team commonly works on.
- Identify who owns the final decision and which constraints matter.
- Confirm approved tool access; use fictional or approved anonymized material.
Use approved, anonymized examples or fictional material. Do not share confidential records or credentials in a planning inquiry.
ADAPT IT TO YOUR WORK
Choose a useful focus.
- Replace the delivery comparison with a hiring brief, procedure or proposal draft.
- Practice two reviewer perspectives when participants already revise AI drafts confidently.
- Split the workshop into two shorter sessions with the draft saved between them.
We confirm the audience, business task, time and tool access during planning.