When Scott and I were in high school, college was the next step to get ahead in life. Why? Because college graduates have typically had access to a wider range of job opportunities and were better equipped to adapt to changing market demands.
When my son, Ben, was at that particular crossroad, nothing much had changed. College was still the direction one should be encouraged to go to be successful.
Back then, we didn’t see AI coming.
You may or may not believe as I do… that AI will create earth-shattering changes. I believe it’s already started. Now, everyone has access to insights and productivity like never before. That means humans must be more competent as to not be replaceable — and for some, competency won’t be enough.
My child rearing days are behind me and I’m great with that. At my stage in life, I’m happy I don’t have to make the decisions young parents do today. But if I did…
I’d encourage my kids to become plumbers, electricians, contractors or mechanics.
AI can’t fix your toilet, repair an electrical short, shingle a roof, or find out why your car’s A/C quit working. People still need those professions with or without the benefit of AI.
It’s scary when you analyze recent data — especially when what businesses see as their primary challenge is not congruent with what prospective employees are looking for…
Recent research shows keeping pace with technology is the #1 challenge for businesses today.
Recent research shows work-life balance is the #1 challenge for individual professionals today.
Now you know: When baseball player Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash, his teammate Manny Sanguillen was the only one of his teammates who did not attend the memorial service. He instead chose to dive into the shark-infested crash site to try and help to retrieve the body.
Password management is hard enough for younger people who aren’t computer savvy or don’t know how to use password management vaults or tools. Add age to that equation and everything goes to shit. 🙂
Wouldn’t it be great to go back to a simpler time?
That’s my long term goal…
It’s not just those pesky neighbors with password challenges.
I maintain a secure list of digital login credentials for about everything Mom and Carl have. I have it because in the past, attempting to login to anything — from email to their wifi… and from youtube TV to Amazon — consisted of an hour of them arguing over where to find one specific username and password in a book where they’ve written them all down by hand.
This morning, I had a client that I worked with forever call for help. They’ve sold their business and building and retired. They need modifications to their domain and server records for a transfer of services. She gave me the username and password… but it was WRONG. The email used to reset the password is one that went with the business that no longer works. ARG!
I don’t have long before I lose my password management skills!
I figure after my big birthday next month I’ll be in the same boat as all the other golden oldies struggling with new fangled technology. Oh my!
Now you know: Walmart ended the sale of pet fish in its stores in 2019. It’s estimated that Walmart was responsible for up to 30% of tropical fish sales in the US.
The CEO of ChatGPT-maker, OpenAI, spoke at the recent World Governments Summit in Dubai warning of the dangers of artificial intelligence. If the CEO says the dangers keep him awake at night, people in general — not just government leaders — should take note of that.
By the way… “people in general” includes every human on the planet. Sam Altman, the CEO mentioned above, keeps telling the world there needs to be an agency created to oversee AI, but no such group has yet been formed.
Dogs are safe from the dangers because it’s not killer robots that are alarming.
Subtle societal misalignment is where things could go horribly wrong.
Societal misalignments refers to instances were AI technology could result in unintended consequences that are counterproductive to society — like bias and discrimination, and job displacement and economic inequality.
As for now… we simply wait to see what happens next.
Since we’re waiting anyway, we can use that time to worry about the claims that genetic material has been gathered secretly from Americans for the Chinese government, and the spying allegations tied to mobile phone apps. EEEEK!
We had a client cancel a virtual event last February because of something out of their control — and as always, we allowed a reschedule without additional fees so long as it was scheduled before the end of the year. That deadline came and went. When the client asked if it was possible to reschedule now, we could’ve declined.
Being nice in business sometimes transforms into a painful experience.
They had already paid for the service and although outside of the contract, helping them was the right thing to do. I agreed to allow it specifically stating that prep would be minimal as not to incur additional costs and time on our end. Now, their Sr. Director of Human Resources is making me regret the decision.
I understand she’s trying to coordinate details, but her peppering of emails is making me crazy. I’m telling her the same things over and over and over again. For the love of all things holy, take a deep breath. No, we’ve not had time to review the email your CEO sent on Sunday night by 8:00 AM ET on Monday morning — especially not with 3 live events in 3 cities in 7 days. 😵💫
She probably missed a gorgeous sunset in her location so she could micromanage.
I didn’t miss the sunset here…
Pointers for organizers — don’t be annoying:
Before sending an email, make note of everything you want to know and form it into one concise message.
If someone tells you they will reach out if they need to connect, stop asking them constantly to schedule a call.
If you’re told you will receive something from someone on a specific day, don’t ask for it 50 times before the deadline.
Don’t pretend to know more about someone else’s job when they are an expert in their field.
Take a deep breath and relax — if you trust someone enough to pay for their services (or if your superiors did), you should expect them to be competent enough to deliver without your micromanagement.
“Here to help with whatever you need!” — Yes, yes I know. This is email #28 in just a few short days. 🙄
Now you know: While only 8.4% of Americans don’t wear seat belts, about 50% of those killed in car crashes were not buckled.
We are in an era of unprecedented connectivity and information access. With instantaneous global interactions through email, social media, and messaging apps, traditional forms of communication have been replaced.
All you need is an internet connection and you have access to a virtual marketplace open 24/7. You have access to a vast repository of knowledge at your fingertips. Even education has transcended physical boundaries — online courses are out there for anything you want to learn.
EVERYTHING IS THERE — except real, physical, human interaction and appreciation of one’s surroundings.
Oh, you can visit places around the world and that’s great… but not if you ignore the beauty that’s in your own backyard. Being able to instantly connect with others is great… but only if you remember how important it is to maintain and foster healthy physical interactions.
You must give up some of one to benefit from the other.
The average person spends almost 7 hours per day on screens connected to the Internet — that’s hours outside of work, y’all.
Isn’t it time for you to find a better balance? I know it’s time for me. Today, I need to find a pillow that the wind took away to unknown places. 🙂
Now you know: The average worker spends nearly 12% of their working hours using unproductive social media apps. Every year in the US, social media distractions at work cost businesses around $650 billion.
