Being in Space

Fixed Utility Mar 25, 2024 Fixed utility is a stationary value. Value is a developmental movement, seeking a new frame and form of thinking that often happens through an Convincing Mar 18, 2024 When we onboard people to a point of view (/convince), we make an invisible comment on what is right and what is wrong. Convincing can be Generality Mar 11, 2024 As I take stock of ideas, living and evergreen, I am reminded of approaching ideas as particular or general. Some ideas benefit from context and Imagination Mar 4, 2024 bis-collection & chapter Acting on your opinions will necessarily generate dissonance. When deploying a new way of looking at reality, it will discern things, people, and Brief, Prompt, Practices Feb 26, 2024 bis-collection & chapter Below is a chapter in progress on the difference between briefs and prompts (for people, not algorithms). I start by posting the earlier text on the The Mission: Self-Actualization Feb 19, 2024 chapter & bis-collection I am slowly putting together longer-form ideas into some shape–maybe an artifact–and will share longer writings here (chapters) for paying members. Movement Feb 12, 2024 How do we sense movement before we get anywhere? As we see more complexity and how norms limit us with cause-and-effect thinking, we begin to move, Changing the world by Changing yourself Feb 5, 2024 If we mean what we say, we will inevitably change the world. The world is made from interconnected and interrelated people, ideas, and places. Texture Jan 29, 2024 Technology is an extension of an efficiency mindset, and efficiency always moves away from meaning and towards scale. AI writing tools and automated Verticality Jan 24, 2024 If you use AI to find a job, don’t be surprised if you find yourself in an average career. Conversely, a company that uses AI for recruiting should Talking About AI Jan 24, 2024 AI & Complexity With more communication about AI, its value, promise, and delivery, I wanted to continue developing the idea of 80/20 Aesthetics. Who is to use AI, Recreational Communication Jan 24, 2024 Value can be recreational or transformational. The most obvious example is information (say in a book, talk, or an email). It can be either side of Average Value Jan 24, 2024 Value exists despite efficiency and not because of it. When we pursue protocols and tools to reduce friction in production or communication, we hope Communication Dec 18, 2023 Newsletter This week, I want to open space between reporting facts and sharing meaning. You can think about the difference between the picture and the frame. What is Work: Library, Scholarship Dec 12, 2023 Newsletter Hello, What is Work now has a library page; I will start updating it with books and websites. The last book is From Strength to Strength, which I Writing Dec 11, 2023 Newsletter is thinking, but we are incentivized to do rather than think. If you’re good at what you do, the market (the people you know professionally) Places Dec 4, 2023 Newsletter We work in places. A place is a location (/medium) where (/a form of) communication happens. It can be an office, Slack community, regular Zoom 2024 Updates Dec 4, 2023 Newsletter Friends, some updates for 2024; 1 The weekly (prompt) email on Being in Space will be paid moving forward. 2 ‘What is Work?’ (a complexity school) Advice Nov 28, 2023 Newsletter Belonging comes at a cost, but only if you don’t consider it. Mindful practice is necessary to integrate and not only follow other people’s advice. Creativity Nov 20, 2023 Newsletter is the ability to be yourself next to others. Creativity is intrinsic; once it is articulated, it moves to production. It is there to be Branding Nov 13, 2023 Newsletter Counterintuitively, when it comes to language and ideas, branding operates against aesthetics. If a practitioner’s ideas or activities are alive Open Source Nov 6, 2023 Newsletter Open-source culture puts access above anything else. It does not ask for care or meaning, and by ignoring those aspects of communication, it often Commodifying Oct 23, 2023 Newsletter the self never pays off. When we optimize every interaction with other people through strict agendas and goal-setting, we effectively Articulation Oct 16, 2023 Newsletter Communication degrades with efficiency — when trying to communicate thin meaning with too many words, or when running out of patience and space to Signals Oct 10, 2023 Newsletter Declining self-authorship is the most comprehensive offense to the self. It is an opportunity of the highest order because it informs all other Plateaus Oct 2, 2023 Newsletter It is easy to think that people pay us for what we make, for producing optimized outputs in a frictionless Configuration. But they pay us for who we Choreography Sep 25, 2023 Newsletter When we choreograph our careers, we look at a scene from the outside, us included. Groups of people and events are plotted on a timeline, resulting Inquisitive Sep 18, 2023 Newsletter You can’t be a good leader without knowing yourself. All leadership is self-leadership. Being curious, imaginative, and inquisitive about the Dualities Sep 11, 2023 Newsletter One of the best ways to revive tired words is to identify the tension they are meant to hold. Best explained through an example, we can use the Field Sep 4, 2023 Newsletter Continuous integration invites playing in a changing area. And, of course, even if we opt for a more stable path, the field is constantly changing. Obviousness Aug 28, 2023 Newsletter Saying the obvious or the quickly understood is easy and friction-free. Doll, maybe. It holds less value than is expected; it asks for nothing and Work Aug 21, 2023 Newsletter Getting better work (new biz) is a wholly internal process. Knowing oneself (practice, value, interests) brings more fulfilling, better paying, Delta Aug 14, 2023 Newsletter What we do for clients is the easy part. Following directions to deliver utility is table-stakes. But we are paid for being thoughtful, reading Structure Aug 7, 2023 Newsletter We make decisions (design/strategize) based on cause and effect. As time progresses, we build a library of instances and what follows what. When Situations Jul 31, 2023 Newsletter Meaning can help us measure the usefulness of the books we read and the stories we tell. There is an opportunity to integrate the residues of Mediation, Meditation Jul 24, 2023 Newsletter Media takes ideas from yourself and brings them to more people than you know. Because you can’t be present in the communication, cutting just enough Differentiation Jul 17, 2023 Newsletter All value starts with an opinion, or value is utility plus opinion. In many ways, opinions are aesthetics. They are the differentiation creativity About What is Work Notes Jul 11, 2023 Newsletter What is work is a new circle, a container to articulate activities that energize and manage those that drain. It will meet Mondays at noon ET for Cubicle Jul 10, 2023 Newsletter What makes a cubicle? Limits to communication, inability to author and move ideas around, and fixed set of actions which prohibit from showing up in Sports Jul 5, 2023 Newsletter We assume we are in the same sport when we compare ourselves to others. When someone is ‘top-notch,’ a ‘rockstar,’ or any other superlative Internet Jun 26, 2023 Newsletter Nothing exists on the Internet. It is all representations, pointing, and communicating in the real world. It is up for thinking to place-make rather Linearity Jun 20, 2023 Newsletter Being generous all the time is not the most generous thing you can do. Your time, attention, and value are not linear, so deploying these in service Clarity Jun 12, 2023 Newsletter Making sense is an interpersonal act. You’re always clear to yourself, even if it is not in language. Ideas might not yet be formed, but they Information Jun 5, 2023 Newsletter has the reputation of being infinite, a belief exacerbated by AI language models. When information is out of the reach of creativity, it Patterns May 30, 2023 Newsletter We look for patterns when things don’t work out as a way to organize the world and reason with our intuition. Organize and use a plan to order the Opinions May 22, 2023 Newsletter When we like everything, we don’t like anything. Opinions (signals) create a negative space where preferences become helpful: this space and its Constructing May 15, 2023 Newsletter We work in places. The construction of desks, chairs, and mental space is a place of practice with specific affordances for thinking and Systems May 8, 2023 Newsletter All visualizations create a system view. It is impossible to isolate a particular part from its adjacent whole. When we imagine something, it is Convincing May 1, 2023 Newsletter Part of the ideas economy is the creation of movements. When a phenomenon is branded and its importance is claimed, it is commodified. Convincing Investing Apr 24, 2023 Newsletter Those in creative services might encourage clients to invest in the future, talk about the nature of a changing world, be resilient in the face of Popularity Apr 17, 2023 Newsletter Like efficiency and value, the dichotomy of popularity and aesthetics is a part of our life. Aesthetics is the opposite of popular, simply because Communication Apr 10, 2023 Newsletter Everything anyone does is communication. Technology exists to mediate contact with another person. It is directly the case for knowledge work, where Formation Apr 3, 2023 Newsletter There is a way to look for what we share as a first step to average out a common denominator. The other seeks the space between what is expected and Time Mar 27, 2023 Newsletter Ideas need time. Scripted opinions and machines don’t. It is with time and care that ideas enjoy creativity. Without either, there can only be the Language and AI Literacy Mar 21, 2023 Newsletter Everything Will Happen is a non-technical, non-futuristic space to learn about AI and its practicality. We will use ChatGPT, Bing, and Bard to Communication Etiquette Mar 20, 2023 Newsletter Communication is the transference of meaning. Etiquette is adhering to a set of protocols to communicate caring. While meaning can’t be prescribed, Useful Words Mar 14, 2023 Newsletter Friends, I want to share a new writing space. A writing space beyond accountability and ‘telling your story.’ It is not a place for feedback or Measuring Mar 13, 2023 Newsletter Metrics are shared, and signals are individuated. When we sense things, we can first articulate and perhaps share them. Once shared, we can decide View Mar 9, 2023 Newsletter Cynicism is the excess energy of reluctant acceptance, an often false realization that this is all there is, either by space of possibilities or the Self Actualization Mar 6, 2023 Newsletter Self-actualization is seeing yourself as the people you care about see you and seeing them the same way. This system is grounded in communication