A Learning a Day

In my recent travels over a 2 week period, I kept a rough count of how often I turned to ChatGPT vs. Google search.

There were some searches which weren’t possible on ChatGPT – e.g., finding restaurants open nearby. But, for everything else, I estimated ChatGPT had 80% share. It felt fascinating to think there’s a solution out there that I’d willingly give up google search on mobile for (I’ve been using Ecosia/Bing on Desktop).

My typical questions were –

(1) Give me a 6 hour itinerary in x place with 6 year olds

(2) What is special about Y

Using ChatGPT for these questions was way more delightful – both because of the synthesis and the interactivity.

My mental model prior to this trip for harnessing the power of generative AI was as a productivity tool. I’ve updated that to include high intent search as well.

A few years ago, there was confusion about why electric cars were better than ICEs or internal combustion engine/gas powered/petrol powered cars. The reason for the confusion was around the assumption that these cars needed a fossil-fuel powered grid to charge themselves.

Of course, EVs become SO much better for the environment as we continue to transition to a renewable based grid (more here).

But that’s not all. 9 out of 10 units of energy used to charge an electric vehicle is used to drive the vehicle vs. 2 out of 10 for a petrol car. That’s 450% more efficiency.

This got me thinking about our energy conversion as humans.

For every unit of energy we take in, how much actually goes into meaningful output? And how much goes into avoidable drama, politics, frustration, and angst?

Take inspiration from electric vehicles, we must.

“The best fights are the ones we avoid.” | Mr Han

“If you can’t tell what you desperately need, it’s probably sleep.” | Kevin Kelly

The equivalent in product management is the problem statement.

When things feel off, it inevitably is a lack of clarity and/or alignment on the problem that we ought to be solving.

We can double our productivity by simply becoming twice as hard to annoy.

Easier said than done of course.

But there also aren’t as many levers that provide comparable return on investment.

The question – “Will this matter if I knew I was dying tomorrow/in the next 6 months?” – is a guaranteed source of perspective and clarity.

“The conductor of an orchestra doesn’t make a sound. They depend, for their power, on the ability to make other people powerful.” | Ben Zander

As do all leaders.

Whether or not they know it.

Occam’s razor is a philosophy principle that makes a simple claim – if an event has two possible explanations, assume the simpler explanation with fewer assumptions is correct.

The more the assumptions, the more unlikely the explanation.

I’ve found that applying this principle to problems in relationships leads to one answer – communication.

Most problems in relationships are issues with what is communicated and then how it is communicated. And these problems are caused because the communicator assumes their preferred “what” and “how” is what the receiver prefers as well.

And of course, that is almost never the case.

I got flustered/frustrated a couple of times recently. Reflecting on them, there were a couple of obvious reminders.

For example, I was short on sleep and more susceptible to frustration. I wasn’t communicating well either – likely compounded by the tiredness. Regardless, I should have known and done better.

But the biggest reminder of them all was just how useless it was. Being flustered and frustrated was a charade that accomplished nothing and made me and everyone around me feel worse.

Skip the tantrum. It is called a tantrum for a reason.

“At the highest levels of any kind of competitive discipline, everyone is great. At this point the decisive factor is rarely who knows more, but who dictates the tone of the battle. For this reason, almost without exception, champions are specialists whose styles emerge from profound awareness of their unique strengths, and who are exceedingly skilled at guiding the battle in that direction.” | Josh Waitzkin, The Art of Learning.

I love this note.

Josh, a child chess prodigy, describes the process of his falling out of love with chess beautifully in this part of the book. A big part of that was being coached to play in a style that didn’t suit his strengths or natural approach.

But, to his point, it is an idea – like all great ideas – that has widespread applicability. Leading teams, for example, works just the same way. The best leaders lead in a way that suits their style in contexts and organizations that suit their strengths.

Understanding ourselves and placing ourselves in teams and contexts that suit our unique strengths may be among the most important things we do.