Art credit @Madison Harney
Spark of the Week
Another week of fits and starts both emotional and physical.
I find myself getting organized. A general habit of quarterly chaos reduction is underway. I am actioning some distant to-do items and investing in quarterly penance for my general disorganized life sprawl. One might wonder why I don't fix this upstream. I want to assure you I do, but I tend to create new things as fast as I organize past habits, and thus I've come to realize that my approach is to jump in and figure out what I am doing and then after I'm in deep go back and figure out what it all means and how to organize it. Note I do not recommend this system. I'm sure more organized humans do this a lot better.
I did some podcast administrative backlog.
I invested in some inbox automation/subscription management (this was a LOT more work than it might sound)
I hit a personal tonal strength score goal (yes, this is unapologetic bragging).
Sept 2024-Sept 2025
I am coming to realize only I can balance the energy of my inputs in a world of so much frenzy. I need to set personal guardrails for my own emotional and physical health. In a world that is speeding up and #enshittification everywhere, it is an act of resilience to find and own agency and while I am generally good at this I still need to remember to own the story I tell myself.
Do I think we are in a bubble and that we will see a downside - yes.
Do I think Jobs are going to continue to suffer - yes.
Do I think there will continue to be real suffering for real people in the world - yes.
and yet...
I also believe this IS the age of miracles and wonders. I believe this is a moment of progress. I believe the arc of the moral universe bends toward justice.
In sum. I believe in the us.
For REALZ. You may say I'm a dreamer... I can live with that. This issue is a bit long, a consequence of catching up after being away - lots to ponder.
Reading and Pondering
Media shift and AI usage insights
Post AI org charts - Meg POV: I believe that this is directionally accurate but missing some context that I can’t put my finger on. I strongly believe org design is a key transformational focus area but I think we are thinking too much about cost and not enough about [real] leverage. Expect me to have a coherent POV on this at some point - for now just know it’s in heavy pondering state for me right now.
Moore’s law for AI Agents (doubling every 7 months)
Travel re-wires your brain for creativity and longevity (this is not [just] rationalizing my fall travel 😇 )
The bubble is the R&D tax we pay for progress - this is a really solid take that is worth reading a few times to understand what to look for (and how to prepare).
China and rare earth leverage
Tech and capital spending on data centers - a great conversation - growth, debt and the intersection of capital markets and tech. If it’s not obvious my sense is aligned with Dave Morin - if it doesn’t make economic sense it doesn’t make sense. (paraphrase quote: Safra Catz)
More on the AI bubble (a lot of really good insights in this one)
China winning Debt to GDP race
2025 State of AI report - So many good insights here worth a scan - a few honorable mentions - U-turn Hall of fame (184), All the Bloopers, Predictions (305 - Note #4),
Google Gemini in the Enterprise - Meg POV: I think this is super smart and exactly what I would expect from Thomas Kurian. Nice to see him exercising his product management chops, Enterprise AI needs this level of context and brain power IMHO.
Rolling stones 250 greatest songs of the 21st century
Negotiation Strategies around the world
Growth hacks for AEO - Alternatives pages
Israel and S. Korea are only countries where AI excitement > AI fear
Global progress and good news roundup
AI progresses cancer research
Work and Jobs
OpenAI names names - is it just me or is this the new target list for talent wars?
Managing in the absence of strategic clarity - I have often been surprised how hard this is for most people. I have always been the type to create my own strategic clarity but I’ve come to learn that this is not normal. Some great suggestions for anyone who struggles with this as I suspect there are going to be a LOT of strategic clarity gaps in the next few years.
The criticality of strength identification and role crafting
Gender pay gap widening for the last two years.
Non-traditional qualifications and the ranking of skills in the mix of talent identification. (Meg POV: Early in my career I noticed I was very different than most in how I saw talent. In the end this was mostly ethnocentrism, my own experience had been one of on the job learning, so I was less concerned about someone who had done the role before and way more interested in their motivation and learning agility. A few decades under my belt I still hold to my world view, that it’s the application of skill that matters and understanding that is key to maximizing talent potential.)
15M fewer US workers projected by 2035.
Enshittification and P(catastrophe)
Vibe Revenue - In an industry that has always had to grow into their messaging we have hit a new low point.
AI changing the way we talk (this has been happening already on social it’s just a new way to accelerate the trend)
A great set of insights on AI Girlfriends (US) vs. AI Boyfriends (China) - interesting take in the comments that since the global demand is for AI companions is about sex but China has laws prohibiting those businesses so they are an anomaly based on market availability vs. market demand.
More on AI companions and the dangers for mental health - My POV: this gets to a really important issue - the reality that hardships and friction are what develop character and growth. Without that, we are emotionally stunting our progress. Parents have to learn this the hard way, learning to watch your kids struggle in social situations and knowing you have to let them navigate this pain without you. Removing this friction and replacing it with the dopamine hit of AI sycophancy is quite dangerous.
Workslop data [and a solid rebuttal from Thomas Otter ]
A [possible] future of segregated fundamentalists - Given my background this one hits pretty hard, and I believe is a pattern that will probably expand in multiple directions.
Fun and Funny
AI song wins (oops)
Operation Inflation - so very Portland
Lifehacks - AI and Others
ChatGPT Pulse - has anyone found this useful? I don’t seem to have access.
Looping Back to You
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** Typos and poor grammar either because I'm too lazy to edit properly, or to make you feel confident this was written by a flawed human and not AI generated.
