John Bohan argues people waste AI by telling it what to do instead of how to think. He shares four reusable modes: Red Team Mode to find flaws, CEO Mode to prioritize when overwhelmed, Board of Advisors Mode for multiple perspectives, and Chief of Staff Mode to turn notes into action.
Most people tell AI what to do. The people getting the best results start by telling it how to think. We can do that by adding custom modes to your AI. Here are 4 modes you can use with your prompts to get a much better result. Red Team Mode. Use this when you want AI to challenge you. You've got an idea, a plan, maybe a new product. Start with Red Team Mode, then write your prompt. AI will look for flaws, risks, And what you might be missing. CEO mode. Use this when you have too much going on and need to know what actually matters. Give it the situation and ask, what are the top priorities? What should I ignore? And where should I focus? Board of advisors mode. Use this when you want different perspectives. Tell AI who's on your board, then ask how each person would think about the problem. Chief of staff mode. Use this when you need action. Give it your notes, ideas, or situation and have it turn everything into priorities and next steps. The key is simple. Don't just tell AI what to do. Tell it how to think first. You only have to install these modes once in your preferred AI and you can use them forever. Comment mode and I will send you these with a simple setup guide.
