Our leadership team is arguing over whether we should invest in an expensive custom LLM model or stick to basic prompt engineering. How do we structure a Thinking Time session to separate the technical hype from actual operational ROI?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a leadership team is divided over expensive technology investments, it is usually because they are arguing about features instead of business outcomes. To prevent making a high-risk gamble, you must step back from the technical jargon.

Schedule a dedicated Thinking Time session for the leadership team. Use Keith Cunningham's methodology to frame the problem. Have everyone sit in silence for forty-five minutes with this high-value question: How might we use basic, low-cost commercial tools to achieve eighty percent of our desired operational efficiency before we commit a single dollar to building a custom model?

This question forces your team to focus on the business outcome rather than the technical hype. Most companies pay a steep dumb tax by building custom systems they do not actually need.

After your Thinking Time, run the ideas through your IDS® process. Evaluate if building a custom LLM directly aligns with your V/TO® Core Focus and your 3-Year Picture. If commercial tools are changing fast enough to render your custom build obsolete in six months, then building is a bad bet. Stick to low-cost tools and assign a Rock to test them first.