The world watches with anticipation as DeepSeek.com takes the lead in AI Large Language Models (LLMs). As a leader, you might wonder, “Why can’t my company achieve a similar breakthrough? What’s stopping us from uncovering game-changing insights?”
As your team strategizes, you grow weary of the same old excuses—yours included. Stakeholders demand answers. Why isn’t your organization making a significant impact?
You try to explain: “We lack capital, time, talent, cutting-edge technology, and a Silicon Valley-style culture.” But then, along comes DeepSeek—achieving disruptive success with limited funding, relatively low expertise, cultural disadvantages, and only a few years of effort.
What sets them apart? And more importantly, how can your organization—whether for-profit or nonprofit—create revolutionary strategies consistently? Here are three critical lessons.
1) Prioritize Powerful Insights
A closer look at DeepSeek reveals that they overcame significant obstacles through superior strategy.
To outsiders, it might seem like magic.
Before their recent breakthrough, prevailing wisdom suggested that such an achievement was impossible. However, a deeper examination shows that the Chinese team pieced together a set of unique features. Each individual element may have seemed ordinary, but together, they formed a disruptive force.
This suggests that other teams—perhaps even yours—could have done the same.
A crucial factor in their success appears to be their ability to harness the smallest unit of innovation: a single insight. These insights, while seemingly minor on their own, can combine to create transformative change.
But the key question remains: Can your team do the same? Let’s examine how your corporate strategy is built. Insights should drive your company forward, but if you’re not achieving game-changing results, something needs to shift.
2) Let Go of “Big Man” Thinking
Many CEOs assume they don’t have a strategy problem. They believe they already possess all the insights necessary—derived from their own expertise.
To justify this, they point to their colleagues’ lack of strategic contributions.
“Not one of them has ever come up with a truly strategic insight!” they argue, frustrated by a team that focuses solely on immediate problems. However, they fail to acknowledge that the company itself rewards this behavior.
In some cases, they might be right.
As the CEO, MD, or Chair, you are one of the few people with a comprehensive view of the business. Naturally, strategy falls under your responsibility.
But this could also explain why groundbreaking strategies are so rare.
Think of your company as an intricate system—too complex for any single person to generate all the insights it needs. No outsider, even with extensive reports, can fully grasp its nuances.
Instead, your leadership team must collectively produce DeepSeek-level strategy. But they can’t do this while stuck in the usual mindset and corporate culture.
If you want breakthrough thinking, take a fresh look at your management team. Then, take action to unlock the insights you need.
3) Run a Workshop to Unlock Your C-Suite’s Potential
If you have a generous budget and time to spare, long-term training and coaching are excellent investments. But if, like most, you need results sooner, organize a face-to-face workshop designed to tap into your leadership team’s best thinking. Why?
You won’t extract transformative insights through surveys, bonuses, or one-on-one interviews. Nor will you uncover them in your usual problem-solving meetings.
Instead, take a lesson from crafting a great ChatGPT prompt.
To get quality responses, you feed an AI model relevant data, structure your question carefully, and then hit <Enter>. The chatbot delivers an insightful answer—often one you hadn’t considered.
Now, imagine doing the same with your C-Suite.
Through multiple trials, I’ve found that leadership teams can be “prompted” to generate their own breakthrough insights. How? By structuring an insight-oriented workshop.
Here’s how to run a high-impact session:
- Craft sharp prompts. Formulate precise questions that challenge conventional thinking and address the root cause of strategic roadblocks.
- Supply relevant data. Provide internal company information and credible local market insights.
- Introduce external trends. Share macro trends that neither you nor your competitors can control but must adapt to.
- Leverage consulting shortcuts. Introduce fresh analytical frameworks used by top consulting firms to accelerate strategic thinking.
- Encourage AI integration. Use LLMs to help your team think beyond their usual constraints and generate breakthrough ideas.
By combining the insights from this session into your next strategic plan, you’ll position your company for game-changing success.
Breakthrough strategy isn’t reserved for Silicon Valley startups or billion-dollar enterprises. With the right approach, any organization—including yours—can generate innovative insights that lead to transformational success. The key is fostering a culture that prioritizes insights, moves beyond individual genius, and taps into the collective intelligence of your leadership team. Do this, and your company might just be the next DeepSeek.
This article was inspired by a column I wrote for the Jamaica Gleaner.
For long-form content on game-changing, pre-emptive long-term strategy, visit https://longtermstrategy.info