On Artificial Intelligence, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and the Risks of Playing with Magic
What can an octogenarian Disney animated short film teach us about AI? Fantasia’s short film, “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” offers a cautionary tale against playing with magic. Do we know the extent of our powers?
Decisions: Four Key Roles Make for Quality Decision-Making
Various organizational maladies can be traced to a lack of clarity around decision roles. After-the-fact objections, confusion in implementation, micromanagement, scapegoating, and whipsawing all imply a need to define roles with greater clarity.
The Right Question
The first step in strategic decision-making is to focus on the right task. Early in my career I was lucky to have clients who taught me a lot. Here’s a recollection of one lesson. It was 1998 or so, and my firm was the agency of record for Wegmans Food Markets internet work. We were working […]
Five Books for Developing Systems Thinking
See horizontal connections across operations, and learn how human factors contribute to success or failure. Systems Thinking is critical for effective strategy, communications, and creative planning. But what makes a good systems thinker? Most talented systems thinkers I know are generalists — and I have long remarked that folks who spend meaningful time in personal hobbies seem to […]
The Importance of Brand/Visual Identity Standards
Brand standards build value at lower cost, nurture loyalty, deliver strategically—and prevent fraud. I’m sometimes asked why identity standards and consistent “branding” (in a very old fashioned, literal, logo sorta way) is important. While the answer to that query may be obvious to marketing types, it’s not so obvious to others, so I put together […]
