Generative thinking…

I think and I worry about thinking vs. the “machines” generating thinking, often these days.  Yes, being retired, I have time on my hands HaHa!  Even though I made my career in the technology field, I feel things have gotten (past tense) out of hand.  

In my World War II History class at Metro State University of Denver, I found another who thinks the way I think.  Technology is not only getting ahead of mankind’s thinking abilities, but we are voluntarily contributing to the problem: 

Generative A.I. 

The outsourcing of analytical thinking and reasoning. 

Professor Andrew Muldoon 

Technologists would say they are simply trying to improve things, I suppose.  But then the “Department of Unintended Consequences” rears its head as described in Ian Leslie’s book Curious ©: 

Human memory is inefficient and unreliable in comparison to machine memory, but it's this very unpredictability that's the source of our creativity.  It makes connections we'd never consciously think of making, smashing together atoms that our conscious minds keep separate.  Digital databases cannot yet replicate the kind of serendipity that enables the unconscious human mind to make novel patterns and see powerful new analogies, of the kind that lead to our most creative break throughs.  The more we outsource our memories to Google, the less we are nourishing the wonderfully accidental creativity of our unconscious. 

“… The more we outsource… the less we nourish… our unconscious.”  

Human brain power, or lack thereof, has been criticized for generations – interestingly, only by other humans.  Smart humans perhaps, but I haven’t witnessed a machine do this math (yet): 

Five percent of the people think; ten percent of the people think they think; and the other eighty five percent would rather die than think. 

Thomas Edison 

It makes me wonder what other great thinkers of their time would think about the thinking that goes on in our time: 

Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it. 

Henry Ford

Well, I think we’ll just have to wait and see if the machines turn out to be better thinkers than we humans.  Perhaps we Neo-Luddites will be proven wrong. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Reflections from an Aging Warrior

The movie, “The Odyssey” is out.  It made me reminisce.  Grandiose expectations, even when achieved, can be a mistake…

Much has been studied and even more written about men of my generation, “trying too hard.”  We were modern warriors in a battle for treasure over ethics; victory over compassion; fame over family; intimidation over cooperation.  I wonder if that affliction afflicts today’s younger, working men.  Women, too.  

Speaking from experience, there can be a “burden of self-sufficiency” and “compulsive work ethic” in our warrioring years.  Some have suggested this can lead to “carrying sadness alone” when warriors fail to meet grandiose expectations, or even achieve them as Odysseus did.  It’s actually worse than that. 

I remember the day a former sales rep of mine, John, called.  Years previous I hired him into the technology sales field when other managers wouldn’t.  He was considered “out of profile”.  I took a chance.  I promoted him onto my Major Accounts sales team at ADP.  I trained him how to hunt.  He became a better hunter than me. 

After outgrowing that position, John left to seek fortune and glory.  He wound up as the #1 rep at Salesforce.com for multiple years.  We stayed in touch periodically; celebrating his victories.  

Then one day, John called.  I hadn’t heard from him in a while.  His voice was different.  I can’t pinpoint it.  He called me to share his most recent victory – or was it.  John just received his first $1 million W-2.  WOW!  What a grandiose achievement! 

Instead of joy however, John somberly asked me, “Gary, is that all there is?”  He was not consoled when I replied, “Yes. As a sales hunter, it’s just the money.”  We haven’t spoken much since.  I think we resigned ourselves to the reality that in our profession, hunting was “all we know”. 

No shame, though.  In the B2B sales profession there are very few true hunters.  Just being a consistent, 100% of quota performer, year-in and year-out, is rare.  I know elite performance is found in many professions.  I don’t know what makes the difference:  

Not every man is built to be in the arena.  

Scottie Scheffler 

Older now, I can finally say that growing up I and others placed too much emphasis on making money.  Pursuit of grandiose expectations, even when achieved, can create disappointment.  In my career, I did things that can’t be undone – can’t be “fixed”.  They are not “learning experiences” because as an elderly man there will never be a next time to “do better”; “do it differently”. 

Can self-forgiveness be found by acknowledging unforgivable deeds?  Did Odysseus find peace?  I hope so.  It’s not because we Aging Warriors have to “live with it”.  It’s actually worse than that.  We have to die with it. 

GAP

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Who’s to blame!

Ah yes, the age old blame game.  It’s being played to the max these days, true?  Those political pundits that promote negative campaigning argue it’s what “we” want.  Really?  I won’t speak for you but I prefer someone standing up and explaining how he or she is going to solve the problem vs. standing up and shouting who’s to blame for it.

I get it.  There are some days where I just want to blame someone else for my issues.  Some days, I don’t want to be a “responsible adult”, or as my friend and former colleague explained: 

It’s hard to be a responsible adult.  It’s much easier and sometimes more fun to be an irresponsible adult. 

 Adam Katzenmeyer 

Take the other day.  I bought the wrong size replacement sprinkler head I needed for a repair.  When I got home and discovered it was too long, I had to drive back to Home Depot, return it, and then buy the correct size.  When I looked at the bin of the size I needed I saw someone had stocked the wrong size in that bin.  “That’s why I picked the wrong size!” I said to myself.  I really wanted to blame someone. 

Back home, when I screwed in the sprinkler head – following a handyman’s step-by-step instructions on YouTube - it didn’t work!  After watching and re-watching the YouTube and removing and re-installing the sprinkler head multiple times, I (finally) realized a little mud had clogged the water pipe the head screws into.  The handyman on YouTube didn’t say to clean out the pipe.  Is he to blame? 

Do you ever feel that because people don’t do their jobs correctly, your level of inconvenience (and cost) goes up?  It seems so common - people make data entry mistakes; they’re too busy to answer the phone; they’re clueless when they do answer the phone… does it seem to you that we have to do our jobs and everyone else’s jobs, too?  Is everyone to blame? 

Unfortunately when it comes to that darned sprinkler system, I know who was to blame.  The clean-out step wasn’t in the handyman’s YouTube because it’s obvious, Duh!  If my wife was supervising, she would have spotted that oversight right away, but she wasn’t supervising me (this time).  Wait - could I have blamed it on my wife?  Hmm... Maybe not.

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.