AI Companion / Preface

As someone who writes books, I am continually grateful to the fact that there are people who buy a book, and then actually read that book. It’s equally clear to me that there’s a second, large group who like the idea of books, but would much prefer a project-based approach to learning the book’s content.

As the technology sector applies Large Language Models (LLMs) to everything, one very valid reaction for authors is to be concerned. Those concerns are merited: it is possible that fewer people will be reading book a decade from now than they do today. However, I also think that LLMs are a powerful tool for supporting project-based leaders.

This compansion to Crafting Engineering Strategy aims to do exactly that, showcasing a number of ways you can actively engage with this book as your guide and co-pilot in creating engineering strategy.

Accessing the LLM-optimized edition

You can download the LLM-optimized edition of this book at only-in-the-final-version. That URL is also accessible via this QRCode:

Use this QR code to download the LLM-optimized edition

Once you have downloaded your copy, instructions for loading and utilizing it are covered in the Foundations of Collaboration chapter.

What This Book is Not

This is the companion to Crafting Engineering Strategy, with an LLM-optimized version of the book, and instructions on how to use that LLM-optimized version. This is not the human-optimized digital version of Crafting Engineering Strategy, and it is certainly not a physical copy. If you want to read the book directly, you should buy one of those instead.

Navigating This Book

While Crafting Engineering Strategy is several hundred pages long and has different ways you might want to approach it, this companion is much shorter and is intended to be read from front to back. It covers:

• Part 1: Foundations of Collaboration covers concrete approaches to querying this book with an LLM, and how to use those approches effectively
• Part 2: Co-writing Strategy with an LLM shows how to write a new engineering strategy with an LLM as a co-pilot
• Part 3: Reviewing an existing strategy explains approaches to generating feedback on an existing strategy with an LLM
• Part 4: Generating Systems Models with an LLM includes instructions for generating systems models using an LLM to absorb much of the complexity
• Part 5: Generating Wardley Maps with an LLM provides details on generating a Wardley map with an LLM simplifying the process
• Part 6: Next steps to using this book suggests additional ways you can experiment with using the LLM-optimized version of this book

It’s absolutely not necessary to read Crafting Engineering Strategy before reading the companion, but if you are particularly passionate about strategy, you are likely to get more value from both books if you eventually read through the human-optimized version as well.