It’s April of 2023, lunchtime.

I was seated among other owners of small businesses.
The conversation turned to ChatGPT.

I rolled my eyes.

This was peak AI season. ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, was dominating every news cycle.

Having dabbled unproductively in the generative AI space with ChatGPT (text) and Dall-E (images) for the previous 90 days, I was beyond the saturation point.

I rose to leave with a half-hearted smile.
Then a brutish New York accent knifed in.

“That’s all bullsh**, guys.”

It was Matt.

Matt was a 38-year-old native Brooklynite, straight out of central casting. He owned a wealth management firm that employed more than seventy people. Rumor had it Matt ran one of the most profitable firms on the eastern seaboard.

I sat back down.
Matt rubbed his hands together.
He enjoyed the attention.

“Wanna know how ChatGPT saves me at least 10 hours every week?”

The table nodded yes.

“RACSEF,” Matt said. “That’s your skeleton key.”

Eyebrows around the table arched.

“R-A-C-S-E-F,” he spelled out. “Write it down.”

RACSEF was an acronym, he explained.

Role
Action
Context
Steps
Example
Format

“Think of ChatGPT as your own personal research assistant—the fastest and smartest one on the planet” Matt declared. “But, like any assistant, it can’t read your mind. You gotta give it some context. Tell it what you want.”

Matt took a breath.

“ChatGPT isn’t magic,” he said. “It’s a new tool. It’s like a shovel, available for free to a world full of ditch diggers.”

Talk is cheap, I thought to myself, before jumping in.

“Say I need to write a job description,” I blurted out, knowing free consulting services when I hear it. “How can I apply RACSEF to that challenge?”

“Perfect example. Let’s do it right now,” Matt said.

Here is what I entered into ChatGPT via the RACSEF framework.

Role
I'm the CEO at Bradley Hartmann & Company, a consultancy in the construction industry that offers language, leadership, and sales coaching.

Action
I'm looking to hire a full-time inside sales person and I’d like your help crafting a detailed job description and compensation plan.

Context
The role will involve calling on commercial construction firms that need help bridging the English-Spanish gap on the job site to sell our 6-Week Spanish language training product. The role will also call on lumber and building material dealers and distributors to sell our industry-specific sales training content library.

Steps
First, can you help me create a job description for the inside sales role. Second, can you help me develop potential compensation plans?

Example
For example, please include a company overview, key responsibilities, qualifications, compensation, and professional development sections.

Format
We want this to be easy to read and understand. Please use a fifth grade reading level and a professional, but warm and personal tone. Bold the section heading as a title, and no more than 100 words per section. We also plan to share this information on LinkedIn, Indeed, and ZipRecruiter, so ideally the format will allow us to quickly copy and paste this content onto those platforms.

What ChatGPT churned out was astounding.
Matt nodded along with a told-you-so-bro smirk.

In under three minutes flat, Matt and his RACSEF skeleton key saved me hours of my time while helping me advance the number one priority in our business. I did it all from my phone.

RACSEF
Role
Action
Context
Steps
Example
Format

RACSEF removes the tyranny of the blank page. Copy and paste your last RACSEF framework into the entry field and make your edits.

It immediately advances you toward the fifty yard line, if not within ten yards of the end zone.

Do you always have to go full-RACSEF to get the benefit?
You do not.

You can often get incredibly useful responses with only RAC: Role, Action, and Context.

For heavier lifting with more complexity, I always use RACSEF.

Since April, I’ve been tracking my collaborations with ChatGPT. A conservative estimate is that I’ve saved around 125 hours, primarily with research and email.

Framed another way, ChatGPT and I, working together, will have created a 13th month for me this calendar year. One extra month of time for our clients, my team, and my personal development.

Matt said ChatGPT isn’t magic.
I disagree.

As Arthur Clarke wrote: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”