AI Teaching Suite™

Practical tools to build your confidence and capability with generative AI – one step at a time.

Generative AI is more than a trend – it’s becoming a thinking partner. It helps leaders ask better questions, surface sharper insights, and work more effectively.

But where do you begin?

The AI Teaching Suite™ is a structured set of resources designed to help leaders, consultants, educators, and researchers move from AI curiosity to confident, impactful use.

Each post is practical, standalone – and together, they’re organised using the AI Capability Map™ – a quadrant-based model that guides your learning across four clear domains.

Whether you’re starting from scratch or expanding your toolkit, you’ll find a path that fits your needs.

The AI Capability Map™

I use a quadrant-based model to structure learning: the AI Capability Map™. It helps you navigate from personal exploration to professional application – and from strategic insight to practical action.

It’s built on two simple axes:

• Personal → Professional
• Strategic → Tactical

Together, they create four learning zones, each with a clear purpose.

Scroll down to explore – and check back soon for a companion series exploring the bigger picture.

Understanding the Learning Journey 

The AI Capability Map™ isn’t just a model – it reflects a natural progression in learning.

From early exploration to deep integration, each quadrant helps you build the skills, mindset, and insights needed to thrive with AI.

 Here is a summary of the four learning zones: 

Quadrant 1 – Build Confidence

Exploration – explore AI safely
Start small, experiment safely, build personal comfort and curiosity with AI.

Quadrant 2 – Build Capability

Application – apply it at work
Use AI meaningfully in your real work – to save time, extend reach, and get more done.

Quadrant 3 – Think Bigger

Reframing – reframe your mindset
Shift your mindset. See AI as a thinking partner – not just a tool, but a collaborator.

Quadrant 4 – Expand Your Toolkit

Breakthrough – use advanced tools
Go further with advanced techniques like context engineering and smarter tool selection.

Quadrant 1: Start Here – Build Confidence 

Start small. Stay safe. Build early confidence.

These posts are designed to help you take your first steps with clarity and curiosity – unlocking curiosity without overwhelm, and progress without pressure.

You’ll notice that the first four posts focus on ChatGPT. That’s intentional. For many people, their first steps into generative AI happen through a conversational chatbot like ChatGPT – and OpenAI’s tool remains the most widely used entry point globally. While these posts highlight ChatGPT – in particular, the paid version, ChatGPT Plus – the core learning applies to any large language model (LLM), including Claude (Anthropic), Gemini (Google), or Grok (xAI). The tools may vary – the underlying skills and mindsets don’t.

Overcoming the Dick Tracy Barrier

A simple but powerful way to reframe AI. This post helps you move past hesitation and see generative AI not as a gimmick, but as a genuine thinking partner.

ChatGPT Plus for Beginners

A clear, friendly walkthrough of how to get started with ChatGPT Plus. No jargon. No overwhelm. Just practical steps.

Projects in ChatGPT: Your AI Workspace for Longer-Form Thinking

Use ChatGPT Projects to organise, revisit, and build on your thinking – ideal for research, writing, and strategic reflection.

Voice Input Best Practices (Voice-to-text vs Voice Mode)

Speaking is faster than typing – but how you speak to AI matters. This post explores two powerful voice input options inside ChatGPT and when to use each.

Quadrant 2: Build Capability 

You’ve found your footing. Now it’s time to apply what you’ve learned.

This is where AI shifts from curiosity to contribution – a genuine productivity partner helping you streamline tasks, save time, and support real work with real impact.

 

Prompting with CRAFT: A Simple Structure for Smarter Requests

Struggling to get better answers from AI? The CRAFT model gives you a simple structure to write clearer, more effective prompts – fast. Ideal for busy professionals who want better results with less effort.

AI Boosters for Busy Managers

Short on time? Here are fast wins, smart integrations, and ready-to-use patterns to boost your productivity without burning out.

Agent Mode Explained

Understand what ChatGPT Agent Mode actually is, how it differs from chats and projects, and where it fits into smarter workflows.

Projects + Agents Together

Learn how to use Projects and Agents together – a smarter, more structured way to manage research, consulting, and complex thinking.

Quadrant 3: Think Bigger

You’ve put AI to work – now it’s time to shift how you think.

This quadrant invites you to go beyond tools and tasks. When you move from prediction to partnership, AI becomes a collaborator – opening space for deeper insight, creativity, and shared thinking.

From Prediction to Partnership

Discover how shifting from AI-as-output to AI-as-partner unlocks powerful new ways of thinking, collaborating, and solving problems.

Working with AI in Leadership & Culture

We’ll explore how AI is transforming leadership and culture – and what it means to lead and learn in an AI-shaped world.

Seeing with AI: How Generative Tools Expand Perspective

AI can help us think in 360 degrees – not just from one viewpoint. This post explores how generative tools unlock broader, deeper understanding.

Not Just Faster, but Deeper: Human + Machine Thinking

When AI augments our thinking, we don’t just speed up – we dig deeper. This post explores how high-tech and high-touch can coexist.

Quadrant 4: Expand Your Toolkit

You’ve shifted your mindset – now it’s time to sharpen your methods.

This quadrant introduces more advanced techniques, like context engineering and smarter tool selection. The magic happens here – but only if you’ve walked the path.

This is where experimentation meets insight, and practice turns into mastery.

Context Engineering: Why Briefing AI Matters

This is where the magic happens. Learn how to give AI better context – and why thoughtful, structured inputs often matter more than clever prompts.

Beyond CRAFT: Exploring Other Prompting Models (Coming soon)

CRAFT is a great starting point – structured, practical, and easy to apply. But it’s not the only game in town. Explore other prompting frameworks and syntax patterns that help you adapt, refine, and elevate your AI interactions as your confidence grows.

Which AI for Which Task? (Coming soon)

Feeling overwhelmed by AI options? This guide helps you choose the right tool for the job – without needing to be a tech expert.

Custom GPTs for Research & Consulting (Coming soon)

Explore how to create your own AI assistants with ChatGPT’s custom GPTs – tailored to your work, your language, and your goals.

Above the Line and Below the Line

The AI Capability Map™ also draws on the classic iceberg model:

    • What’s above the waterline is visible – confidence, curiosity, experimentation
    • What’s below the waterline is transformative – capability, application, impact

Together, these dimensions help explain why starting with safety matters – and why deeper engagement is where the true shift begins.

Why I Built the AI Teaching Suite™

I’ve spent the last 40 years working with leaders in high-risk industries, unionised workplaces, and complex organisational environments. Over the past two years, I’ve been using generative AI in my research, consulting, and writing – and teaching others to do the same.

This suite captures what I’ve learned:

    • What’s useful

    • What’s overhyped

    • And how to apply AI in ways that amplify human achievement

This is not about replacing people. It’s about enabling better thinking, sharper reflection, and faster decision-making – while keeping the human firmly in the loop.

How to Use This Page

Each quadrant is a step in the learning journey:

Explore → Apply → Reframe → Breakthrough.

Start anywhere – each post is practical and self-contained.

However, following the arc leads to real mastery.

Bookmark the page. It updates as new posts are released.

 

 Coming Soon: AI Insight & Impact

A new companion series is on the way. While the AI Teaching Suite™ focuses on practical how-to skills, this upcoming series explores the bigger questions – from ethics to economics, from education to the future of work.

Perfect for leaders, researchers, and curious thinkers who want to understand not just how to use AI – but why it matters.

Looking for a starting point?

 Try Post Zero – Overcoming the Dick Tracy Barrier

A simple but powerful way to reframe AI. This post helps you move past hesitation and see generative AI not as a gimmick, but as a genuine thinking partner. A perfect place to begin – especially if you’re still finding your footing.

A downloadable version of the full suite is coming soon.
Workshops and briefings are available through Lifting Impact (launching soon).

Stay curious.

Work wisely.

Build confidence with AI.