Futility: It might feel like it doesn’t matter.
Fear: Of choosing wrong, or doing it wrong.
Responsibility: It isn’t given, it’s taken. Which is why so many leave it on the table.
Possibility: Showing up to have your say could change things for the better.
Identity: This is what people like us do, it’s part of being in this community.
Defiance: Some would rather you stay home. Your vote is a limit on their plans.
Gratitude: For the people who came before, and for the ones who never had the chance.
Dignity: Because for a moment, everyone ought to have the same impact.
Solidarity: Standing with the others when they choose to stand with us.
Hope: This may be our best chance to make things better.
That’s a lot to dance with from one single action. I think it’s worth it.
That changes everything. This is the spot, your spot, a spot worth protecting. Trees understand the power of the neighborhood and the value of good neighbors.
Trees can’t be anonymous, and they succeed by standing tall and sticking it out. Trees do better in a forest, surrounded by other trees.
And trees think in long time frames, because now keeps changing but later is the actual urgency.
Trees are mortal. And so generations are the actual long game. Fires and floods will come and go, but the seeds spread and flourish.
As humans, we often underestimate the gift of new decisions, new locations and the ability to quit and move on.
And just as often, we miss the chance to plant roots and stand for something.
HT to Lisa Gansky.
The reason we train is to get better.
Every successful product goes from version 1.0 to 2.0, eventually.
Very few people still drive a Model T.
It’s not perfect, not yet. But we ship the work because it’s on the way to the next step.
Perfect isn’t possible. Better always is.
The slogan is “when you care enough to send the very best.”
But more accurately, it’s “when you don’t care enough to be on the hook.”
For a low-stakes social interaction, the Hallmark card is a convenient and safe solution. Low-risk, it gets the job done. People don’t blame you for letting someone from Kansas say a nice thing on your behalf.
Now, it’s happening at scale. If you want to be left off the hook, AI is a convenient excuse. Do what it says. Ask it what to dress up as for this Halloween, or what to write in your marketing copy. Let it design your website or write your resume. Perhaps you could have it write your wedding vows as well.
Our culture prizes convenience ahead of just about everything else, and AI slop is convenient. It saves us time but it also saves us emotional labor.
The dilemma is obvious. Unlike a Hallmark card, AI is available to do just about everything. And when we’ve streamlined our life to a convenient nub of its former self, then what?
There’s a different path. Insist that AI ask you questions. Challenge it to challenge you.
Then choose. Sign your work.
AI isn’t the cause of slop, and it’s not a good excuse for slop either.
Last week’s book list was a success, and I realized that it would work even better with others. Bookstores work precisely because they stack the books right next to each other.
Even though each of these authors has a book out this fall, they’re not my competition. Too often, we avoid cooperation because we’re embracing scarcity.
Each of us will be linking to thehotlist.org today. Ideas that spread, win. The page automatically updates based on which books get clicked on the most.
What happens when you help connect and organize the others?
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