Month: June 2023

#AI will level the playing field by making the conventional wisdom available to everybody. I’ve been mostly ignoring this round of ChatGPT-led AI hype, in part because the few times I’ve asked a question, I didn’t get back anything useful or insightful. But I’ve had a couple conversations recently that helped me understand how these…

Leaders don’t wait for permission. Waiting until somebody gives you permission or a “clear swim lane” is what followers do. Leadership means wading into a messy situation and creating clarity for others, identifying a direction and doing the work to align others to that direction. When you see something that needs doing, motivate and influence…

Personality typing systems are maps to the complex differences among humanity. While such systems as Myers-Briggs and the Enneagram are often dismissed as pseudo-science on par with astrology, I find them useful to remember that other people aren’t like me. We often assume that everybody sees the world exactly the same way we do, and…

Show compassion (within boundaries). One of the most common cognitive biases is the fundamental attribution error, where we attribute the failures of others to their innate characteristics (they can’t do X because they are incompetent, they are late because they are irresponsible, or they made me miserable so they are evil), but justify our own…

Communicate proactively. Many of us live in an overwhelmed state where we are constantly reacting to whatever is coming at us. This is an effective survival tactic, but our actions are then determined by what others send at us. Living reactively can also lead to disappointing others because we didn’t manage to deliver on a…