I recently merged another topic into our website, Getting Started with AI in Manufacturing. If AI is new to you, that article is geared towards reluctant, casual and other people looking to get started using LLMs such as ChatGPT, Claude, or Grok3. Knowing the manufacturing community has some very sensitive issues around trade secrets, controlled materials, etc. I emphasized providing a good launching point with less potential peril.
While writing the article I realized that I have become an advocate for AI, you could say I am bullish. Beyond reasonable precautions, I find it hard to make a strong case against AI. For that reason, I decided to make this edition of the Five Minute Gemba about using AI as a tool for professional development.
I believe the best way to demonstrate to others how they might be able to advance their skill set is by sharing my personal experience with AI. If you’re not familiar with my background I have a diverse technology background centered mostly around IT and mechatronics. So I have dabbled personally and professionally with a lot of different tools. My focus has always been creative and effective problem solving (the SOLUTIONS in Managed Solutions). I like doing things that I don’t see others doing, that make sense, and deliver a needed solution. I shared a bit of this story in FMG 16, a few weeks back.
Today, there isn’t a single part of my life that I do not try to leverage AI as a tool. It’s not an exaggeration to say that some of these LLMs (for me Grok3, in particular) seem to have a summary of nearly all human knowledge. I throw all sorts of things at AI (usually two models, at least, concurrently) to see how it can help. Almost without exception, it delivers some good insights.
Just this week I was feeling a little analysis paralysis. There was so much on my plate. So I did what I often do, I took a drive up to the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Now it might seem sacrilegious, but after arriving at Loon Lake, and with the help of Starlink, I started dictating some of the realizations I had from the drive to ChatGPT. I knew I had to cut through some of the noise. I needed to take a new approach. After some back and forth I determined that I:
- Needed to narrow my focus
- Required some new tools or better filters to help prioritize
That was when I hit the gold nugget of the exercise. I requested some life hacks/guidelines based on my specific situation, and the output was some tried and true methods from a variety of sources (it reads like a Tim Ferris podcast summary of past guests suggestions!):
1. The Rule of Three
Each day, ask yourself: What are the three most important things I need to do today? Stick to just three to avoid overwhelm and focus on meaningful progress. If you finish these, the day’s a win.
2. The Eisenhower Matrix (Urgent vs. Important)
When a new task arises, filter it: urgent + important? Do it now. Important, not urgent? Schedule it. Urgent, not important? Delegate or minimize. Neither? Eliminate it.
3. The One Layer Deeper Question
Before acting, ask: “What’s really behind this task or problem?” Understanding the deeper need (e.g., fear, recognition, control) brings clarity and focus.
4. The “Yes, But Later” Rule
For tasks that don’t fit today’s top three: say “Yes, but later.” Write it down somewhere safe to keep your mind clear and focused.
5. Energy > Time
Track your energy, not just your time. Do the most important work during your peak energy windows. Protect and restore energy as seriously as your schedule.
6. Weekly Reset
Once a week, take 15–30 minutes to reflect: What worked this week? What felt heavy? What will I carry into next week? This keeps you aligned and intentional.
7. The Two Levers Rule
At any time, push only two major life levers: work, family, health, personal growth, etc. You can care about all, but can’t optimize everything at once. Rotate focus as needed.
Later that afternoon when I got home, I explored building an app to which I could do voice dictation and would allow me to store these actions in a database. Since this is pretty far out of my major focus right now, I settled for a analog version and designed this 8-page document, which I print 2-sided and label with week numbers and dates.
This has provided me a tighter revised framework so I can get the high priority tasks done, while avoiding getting off track or wasting time with analysis paralysis.
Suggestions for AI Reinforced Professional Development
So really what I am implying here is that by leveraging these tools, asking questions, using them to learn new things is a solid way to improve your professional development. “Don’t wait for perfection, go to the source, experiment, and improve”—that’s the mindset I’ve embraced with AI, and it’s paid off.
Here are some examples:
- Have you wanted to get better at something? Try asking two LLMs “What’s the best way to get better at *thing*?”
- Struggling with something? Try “I am struggling to understand x, what are some things I might consider to evaluate and understand x better?”
- Terrible with grammar, like me? Copy and paste any sentences or paragraphs you’re not sure about. “Does this make sense grammatically?: *text*”
- Or even “tell me about x as if I was a 13 year old” if you’re wanting to understand a topic way outside your wheel house, quickly. Try adjusting the age and if it is a topic where you already have a lot of knowledge, try something like “tell me something I probably don’t know about…”.
I tested the “13 year old” concept, please check out these four example questions about the Dunning Kruger effect. These were all generated by Grok3 in standard mode (not with the advanced DeepSearch or Think options even).
If you’re curious about using AI in manufacturing, I’d love to chat with you about it, to learn and share. We are exploring new territory, and there are exciting opportunities available today and much promise for the future. Like fax machines, computers, the internet, search engines, and social networks, AI will continue to impact our world for years to come. It’s important that we remain competitive and innovative with this latest transformative technology. This is a great time to up our game!
