An optional challenge for MGT 360 — outside class, at your own pace.
Some of you use AI every day. Some of you have been told for two years that using it is cheating, and you’re not sure what’s allowed anymore. Wherever you’re starting from, this one starts easy on purpose: fifteen short exercises across five rungs, each rung setting up the next.
Why this order? Maybe you’ve never tried AI before, or have been scared away from using it by instructors, etc. That’s why we are starting on the first rung of the ladder — play!
| # | Exercise | What you turn in | What you judge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rung 1 — PlayNothing on the line. Build fluency. | |||
| 01 | Turn whatever you are reading into song lyrics | The lyrics, plus a paragraph on what the song had to drop. | What the song left out — and whether that was the filler or the point. |
| 02 | Make a concept explain your own job | The explanation, plus a paragraph on where it fits your job and where it does not. | Whether the concept actually fits your work, or only sounds like it does. |
| 03 | Teach a management framework to a skeptic | Your pitch for the framework, plus a paragraph on the strongest objection you hit. | Whether the framework holds up to real pushback, or crumbles on contact. |
| Rung 2 — DirectYou steer. The answer depends on you. | |||
| 04 | Make it argue against itself | Both answers — original and rebuttal — plus your verdict. | Which side actually won. |
| 05 | Rewrite the prompt, watch the answer change | Both prompts and both answers, plus what your edit changed. | What your edit caused — and what stubbornly did not move. |
| 06 | Have it quiz you until you find your gaps | Your list of the gaps it found — not the quiz — plus what you did about one. | Where your own understanding actually ran out. |
| Rung 3 — ApplyReal managerial work. And the first sign of thinning. | |||
| 07 | Rehearse a hard conversation | The ten strongest lines, not the whole thing, plus what you’d do differently. | Your own performance, not the AI’s script. |
| 08 | Drill into a question you actually care about | The last exchange of the drill, plus whether the extra depth was real. | Whether the depth is real or just more words. |
| 09 | Push until the answers thin out | The exchange where it started repeating itself, plus where it stopped adding anything. | The point where it stopped adding anything — and why. |
| Rung 4 — InterrogateExamine the limits you just found. | |||
| 10 | Compare two AIs on the same question | The two answers side by side, plus the one disagreement that matters. | Where they disagree — and which disagreement matters. |
| 11 | Have it argue the side you reject | The strongest paragraph it produced against you, plus whether it moved you. | Whether the case against you was stronger than you expected. |
| 12 | Mark the line: its recommendation, your judgment | Your annotated copy — its recommendation marked one way, your judgment another. | Exactly where the AI stopped and you started. This is the point of the rung. |
| Rung 5 — VerifyIndependence. Check it, then check the check. | |||
| 13 | Fact-check the AI — then check the checker | The claim, the first check, and the check of the checker. | Whether the second pass was any more trustworthy than the first. |
| 14 | Trace a claim to its original source | The source — or “no source found” and where the trail died. | Whether the source exists and says what the claim says. “I couldn’t find a source” is a passing answer. |
| 15 | Assess source credibility and publication bias | Your analysis of the source: who published it, what their incentive is, and what they may be hiding. | Whether the source’s credibility matches how the AI treated it — or whether the AI was too trusting. |
No schedule, no chapter tie-in. Nothing here depends on what a given chapter is about or where the class happens to be — where an exercise needs course material, use whatever you’re reading. The order is a suggestion; it exists only because each rung assumes the one below it.
From writing song lyrics to assessing whether a source is trustworthy. That distance is the lesson. Start wherever you are — and welcome to the Ladder.