Because AI makes it inexpensive to experiment with adjacent service offerings, our team is chasing multiple new client requests. How do we use the Core Focus on the V/TO to prevent shiny object syndrome while still adopting AI strategically?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

AI tools dramatically lower the friction of launching new services. With low-code platforms and generative tools, your team can build a functioning prototype for an adjacent market in days. However, lowering the cost of execution does not lower the cost of operational distraction. Chasing every AI-assisted idea dilutes your leadership focus and pulls your company off track.

To maintain discipline, anchor your decision-making directly on your Core Focus within the V/TO. Your Core Focus consists of your Purpose, Cause, or Passion, alongside your Niche. It is your ultimate filter for what you will and will not do as an organization.

When a team member brings a new AI-enabled service idea to the table, run it through this four-step evaluation before dedicating resources:
- Does this service directly serve our target market defined in our Marketing Strategy?
- Does it fall squarely inside our established Niche, or does it require building an entirely new sales, marketing, and delivery engine?
- Does it align with our financial and operational goals outlined in our 1-Year Plan?
- Does our current leadership team have the capacity to manage this service without compromising our existing quarterly Rocks?

If the answer to any of these questions is no, place the concept in your long-term Vision Building parking lot or discard it completely. Encourage your team to channel their AI experiments entirely inward. Instead of inventing new service offerings that pull you away from your core business, challenge them to use AI to streamline the core operations you already dominate.