Humans In The Loop

But us humans, we’re scared too. Which makes us defensive and write think-pieces like "Will AI replace the artist? Wait dang it I wrote that one nvm.

The more we talk about how we are not AI, the more robotic we become.

"Trust us, we're human and here's why," we keep saying — that nobody can deny!

The truth hides in the subtext and makes me wonder, ... See more

Back in the old days of ‘slow traditional culture’ there were plenty of conversations, music in the parlor and even daydreams about dating. But we didn’t count those. The real stuff was the solid stuff, the informal didn’t truly matter.

And now we live in a time where the previously informal is easy to measure.

But just because it’s measured doesn’t ... See more

To be lost is to be human

Feeling lost is a fundamental part of the human experience, a feeling that traces back to the dawn of history.

Humanity is waking up to the challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence, but we don’t yet understand our role. People talk about unexplainable AI when they should be more concerned about the unexplainable humans running the companies that develop the AI. (Hiya, Sam!) People worried about AI taking their jobs and taking control are comp... See more

When someone responds in a way you didn’t expect, ask them, “What did you hear me say?” Most of the time, the other person heard something incorrect. Follow up with “I’m glad I asked; let me try that again.”

Every. Single. One. of the startups that I've worked with have some

co-founder (or early team) dynamic that implicitly shapes their lasting culture.

These practices may be well-known and honored, or they may be hard-coded yet unspoken (like the pie in my story above). Either way, they are a part of the company’s DNA — its nature.

As an Ops Leader, s... See more

“ resisting the pull to work endless hours is as much about keeping ourselves able to sustainably do the work [...] as it is about leaving space in life for other sources of fulfillment.”

Guardrails on the work day — on the work week! — make it possible for you to do the work for longer . Not longer hours, but, like, longer in life . It makes passi... See more

While frameworks can offer valuable perspectives and guide decision-making, rigid adherence to them can lead to tunnel vision and unhelpful outcomes. Successful decision-making often requires a blend of framework-guided analysis and intuitive judgment, where the needs of both the business and the customer are carefully considered.

In a pair of experiments, Alison Fragale and I found that self-promotion only paid off when the audience was distracted enough to remember the information but forget the source. Otherwise, they saw right through it. If you were that great, you wouldn’t need to boast about your greatness.