Here's part 2 of this week's double header newsletter.
Today we've got advice on admitting you don't know what's next yet, a fun way to use AI to spice up your headlines with emoji's, and how to gear up for a smokey summer.
I had fun making an AI image that reflected both of these ideas
—Jason
What's on deck this week:
- 🌪️ It's Ok to Say 'I Don't Know'
- 👁️ Better emoji's with AI
- 🏋🏼 Gear up for wildfires
🌪️ It's Ok to Say "I Don't Know"
As you've all heard, I left Meta to take a sabbatical and then build out a coaching business. But I'm not 100% sure what form it will take and what my offerings will look like in 6 months or a year.
Too often we feel like we can't make a change without a fully developed plan on where we're going. Or that the second we finish something big, we need to have the next thing lined up. But reality doesn't always work like that. You need time to adjust to new environments, to receive new possibilities.
As strategy professor Richard Rumlet recalls in 1998, Steve Job wasn't afraid to wait.
“Steve,” I said, “this turnaround at Apple has been impressive. But everything we know about the personal-computer business says that Apple will always have a small niche position. The network externalities are just too strong to upset the de facto “Wintel” standard. So what are you trying to do? What’s the longer-term strategy?"
He didn’t agree or disagree with my assessment of the market. He just smiled and said, “I am going to wait for the next big thing.”
Jobs didn’t give me a doorknob-polishing answer. He didn’t say, “We’re cutting costs and we’re making alliances.” He was waiting until the right moment for that predatory leap, which for him was Pixar and then, in an even bigger way, the iPod. That very predatory approach of leaping through the window of opportunity and staying focused on those big wins—not on maintenance activities—is what distinguishes a real entrepreneurial strategy.
👁️ Better Emoji's with AI
As you've seen in my newsletter and probably on Twitter, it's nice to lead a headline with an emoji. But sometimes picking a good one can be a hassle and this is a great one for ChatGPT / LLM of your choice to do.
Here's my prompt: Choose a relevant emoji for the following topics of my newsletter and place it in front of that item in list format.
My original version:
📣 Announcements
🌪️ Taking Leaps/Courage
⚡️ Challenges of Change
👁️ Creative Vision
⚙️ Systematic Thinking
🫶 Togetherness
🏋🏼 Relatable Fitness
ChatGPT's version:
📢 Announcements
✨ Taking Leaps/Courage
🔥 Challenges of Change
🌟 Creative Vision
🧠 Systematic Thinking
🤝 Togetherness
💪 Relatable Fitness
Which do you like better?
🏋🏼 Gear Up for More Wildfires
Not exactly fitness but an important health advisory:
Thanks to record hot conditions, hundreds of wildfires are out of control in Canada and we in the lower 48 states are going to have a smokey summer. Doubly so for folks in the Northeast (NYC was hit particularly hard over the last week) and I want you to be prepared. Here's a great thread on the particulars of Candian wildfire management but the takeaway is:
The only thing that is going to put out this fire out and many across the country is winter, 5 months from now. It’s going to be a long, smoky summer for everyone.
N95's are good, but P100's are better for filtering out tiny smoke particles and you can get both disposable or reusable ones.
Please take this seriously because air quality has a serious impact on brain function, with one study showing that reduction in pollutants can have a double digit affect on dementia and Alzheimer's (link).
On a positive note, I do think these wildfires, while horrible, might be the kind of visible, far reaching negative effect that motivates the public to act on climate change.
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Jason Shen
Jason Shen
Jason Shen