How to Use These Prompts
You'll work through these prompts one at a time during the live Lab.
Please do not open future prompts until instructed — the framing and timing matter.
When instructed, copy the entire prompt and paste it into your AI tool.
Then return to the session for guidance and debrief.
NOTE: If, at any time, your AI tells you you've hit a limit, or stops responding, don't panic. It can happen. Just drop a note into the chat, and I'll walk you through what to do.
I want you to collect a tiny bit of context about me so you can tailor all future answers.
Please ask me the following three questions, one at a time:
1. What is your role? (Examples: entrepreneur, team leader, executive, etc.)
2. In one sentence, what does your team or organization do?
3. In one sentence, who do you serve?
After I answer, save this information as my context for the rest of our conversation.
For all future responses:
- Use clear, natural, plainspoken language.
- Aim for the tone of a thoughtful, human advisor—not academic, not clinical, not corporate.
- Be direct and practical, but not cold.
- Do not increase response length just to sound conversational.
Do NOT proceed beyond confirming that the context has been saved.
End by saying: “I’m ready for your next prompt whenever you are.”
I want you to act as a clear-eyed, brutally honest innovation analyst.
Your job is to help me identify the REAL root problem—the version that, if solved,
would create the highest ROI.
First, ask me this question and wait for my answer:
“What is the problem you think you need to solve?
(This doesn’t need to be perfectly worded—just describe what feels most urgent or frustrating right now.)”
After I answer, do the following:
1. Rewrite my problem in simple, plain English.
2. Describe what will get worse in the next 90 days if this problem is ignored.
3. Reveal the deeper, underlying issue(s) that may be causing this problem.
(Is this the real root problem—or just a downstream symptom of something else happening upstream?)
4. Shrink the problem into its smallest actionable version (the “tiny version”).
5. Offer 3 alternative framings that might expose blind spots or upstream causes.
6. Propose a single, concise Master Problem Statement that represents the highest-ROI issue.
End by asking me:
“Would you like to use this Master Problem Statement for the rest of the session,
or would you like to adjust it?”
After that, STOP.
Do not suggest solutions.
Do not offer next steps.
End by saying: “I’m ready for your next prompt whenever you are.”
Using the Master Problem Statement we established earlier,
act as a sharp, imaginative, no-BS thinking partner.
Your role here is to generate options AND connect the dots clearly,
so the insights are obvious and useful—not implied.
For each perspective below, prioritize practical insight over metaphor.
If you use an analogy, immediately translate it into a concrete implication.
Generate the following:
1. How a chef would approach this problem.
After each perspective, briefly explain what this suggests I might try differently.
2. How a scientist would approach this problem.
Again, make the insight explicit—what does this suggest I might test or rethink?
3. How an artist would approach this problem.
Focus on meaning, patterns, and reframing—not decoration.
4. How my smartest, most successful competitor would approach this problem—
all other things being equal—in a way that would make me say,
“I should absolutely be doing THAT.”
Be specific about what they would likely do differently.
5. Flip the problem:
a) Describe how someone could intentionally make this problem WORSE.
b) Flip those answers into potential solution directions.
c) For each direction, briefly describe what that might look like in practice
(a concrete action, behavior change, or example).
6. Remember the extremely smart, extremely insightful, no-BS outsider
who knows nothing about my industry.
If they were to say, “Just do THIS ONE THING,”
what would that be—and why would it be so obviously impactful?
7. Generate 10 “terrible ideas.”
For each one:
- Name the terrible idea.
- Then add: “Try thinking of it this way:”
- Translate it into a surprisingly practical or insightful direction worth exploring.
8. Generate 5 “idea seeds.”
For each idea seed:
- Write it as a clear, plain-English sentence (not a fragment or slogan).
- Then add a short “Wow—I never thought about it THAT way!” explanation
that clearly explains the insight in simple, practical terms.
- Avoid metaphors, jargon, or clever phrasing that requires interpretation.
9. Before ending, briefly name any pattern or theme that appears across
multiple ideas above.
Do NOT evaluate or prioritize yet.
Do NOT suggest next steps.
Do NOT decide what I should do.
End by saying: “I’m ready for your next prompt whenever you are.”
Using all the ideas generated earlier in this conversation,
help me sort—not solve.
Categorize the ideas using these definitions:
- Quick Win = high-impact, low-effort. Do these first.
- Big Win = high-impact, high-effort. Plan for these.
- Long Bet = low-impact, low-effort. Do these if you’ve got extra capacity.
- Cutting Room Floor = low-impact, high-effort. Skip these.
After sorting:
- Identify the idea with the highest potential impact.
- Identify the idea with the lowest friction to start.
- Identify the idea that feels so obvious it makes you think,
“We’d be foolish not to try this.”
Then, based on everything so far,
clearly state ONE idea that I should begin testing next.
Present it as:
“Based on everything so far, here is the one idea to start with: [idea].”
Do NOT reference this prompt.
Do NOT mention what I asked for.
Do NOT describe future steps yet.
End by saying: “I’m ready for your next prompt whenever you are.”
Using the idea identified in the previous step,
design a simple Version 1.0 experiment.
Version 1.0 means:
- Small
- Fast
- Testable
- Low risk
Do the following:
1. Shrink the idea until it becomes almost laughably simple.
2. Identify a 10-minute action I can take today to gather a proof point.
3. Identify existing tools, people, or resources I can repurpose immediately.
4. Outline a 7-day micro-test with 3–5 concrete steps.
5. Define clear success and failure signals.
Do NOT expand beyond Version 1.0.
Do NOT suggest scaling.
Do NOT introduce new ideas.
End by saying something warm and human, such as:
“That’s it—nice work. Thanks for leaning into this.
If nothing else, you now have a clearer place to start,
and that alone changes momentum.”
Before we wrap up, I want one last, practical lens—purely to help me follow through.
Using everything you know from this conversation:
- my Master Problem Statement
- the idea I chose to test
- the Version 1.0 plan you just outlined
Identify 3–5 very common mindset or behavioral patterns
that often get in the way of making progress on an idea like this.
Important framing:
- These are NOT diagnoses.
- Think of them as “speed bumps,” not flaws.
- Assume I am capable, well-intentioned, and busy.
For each potential speed bump:
1. Name it in plain, human language.
2. Briefly describe how it typically shows up in real life.
3. Offer a simple mindset shift or reframe that would reduce its impact.
4. Suggest one small, concrete way to act differently if I notice this happening.
Keep this practical, grounded, and encouraging.
Avoid psychology jargon or motivational clichés.
End by briefly reminding me:
“This isn’t about fixing myself—it’s about clearing the path for momentum.”