The most underrated skill in business: Being easy to work with. Not the smartest person. Not the most talented. Just the person everyone wants on their team. Returns emails quickly. Doesn't create drama. Makes other people's jobs easier. Shows up prepared. While everyone's trying to be impressive, just be helpful. It pays better.
Perfectionism rarely creates perfection. You procrastinate because you’re terrified of falling short. You abandon projects because they don’t live up to insurmountable standards. You spend more time frantically burying flaws than creating something authentic.
The question is not whether algorithms can ever foster greatness—they cannot. Their design is fundamentally at odds with the qualities that define great art: depth, complexity, and the capacity to provoke discomfort or transformation. The question is whether we, as creators and consumers, are willing to resist their influence.
As a younger man, I always had a "data over feelings" view of the world, but after 15+ years of performing analytical testing, seeing data manipulated in every possible direction to fit personal biases and agendas, I now view feelings as the only thing that really matters.