The initial adoption of new technology follows a regular pattern.
The first group are hobbyists, people looking for a fascinating way to spend time. But that’s a small group–ham radio operators, for example, or theremin musicians.
It’s the second group that gets the rest of us to take notice. They use technology to save time and money. Faxes are just like Fedex, but faster and free. Email is just like a fax, but faster and more resilient. Netflix DVDs saved a trip to the rental store and were cheaper too. The transistor radio was just like a tube radio, but cheaper…
You’re probably seeing this happen with AI right this moment. Most of the use among students, businesses and freelancers is to simply do yesterday’s work, but faster and cheaper.
Every technology that makes a difference moves beyond this shortcut phase.
Soon, people will find new uses, new ways to create value and new innovations. That’s a given. It’s our job (and our opportunity) to find the guts to go first.
A useful way to understand an evolved organism or system is to ask what it wants. What actions does it need to evoke to survive or thrive?
The flower wants bees to visit, the berries want to be eaten by birds. Obviously, they don’t have conscious intent, but this desire guides their progression through the generations. When they get more of what they want, they do it more.
The same is true for manufactured objects and organizations as well.
The well-designed tool wants you to hold it by the handle, not the blade, and to use it often and safely. The successful luxury good wants you to show it off to others, and to feel a certain way when you do.
And the smartphone wants your attention. As much of it as it can get. And then a little more. It does that by bringing the outside world to wherever you are, piercing the intimacy of here and the magic of now by persistently creating anxiety or fear or satisfaction, again and again and again.
Choosing to engage with things that want what we want is a powerful choice.
Each day, I have about 8 hours of tasks to do. Empty the dishwasher, bring in the paper, answer emails, queue up a blog post… it’s a very long list. I’m sure you have one as well.
If we’re good at the chores, we’ll be offered new ones. And of course, it’s possible to find new ones on our own.
The thing is, if you wait until all the chores are done before you take initiative, create, ship or connect, you’ll never get around to the life-changing work of showing up with possibility.
There are two ways to think about achievement and the idea of getting ahead:
Perhaps it’s a race. Getting ahead means beating the competition.
But perhaps it’s simply an effort to move forward. A rising tide lifts all the boats, and if you want your boat to have plenty of water under it, that’s far more effective than trying to push all the other boats down.
If we play games where we can win without others losing, we’re more likely to succeed.
Luxury goods are based on scarcity. If everyone had a Birkin bag, it wouldn’t be worth much.
But luxury goods don’t really matter that much, particularly if the culture we’re in is struggling.
The most resilient and effective form of achievement is the resilience and peace of mind that comes from knowing that our work is contributing to a culture that is moving forward. Not so others lose, but so we find a place that feels like winning.
Regression to the mean explains that in statistics, outlying events tend to be overcome by average ones. But in society, the opposite is often true. A small headstart becomes a bigger one, or a small stumble can turn into something that is hard to overcome.
Individuals can work to amplify their good luck.
And society is obligated to create the conditions for bad luck to fade into the background.
We don’t do either one as much as we could or should.
The index is the search bar, the random access to the facts we can look up.
The table of contents, though, that’s a point of view. It’s a taxonomy of how to understand a complicated idea. It’s the skeleton of the narrative and the pedagogy for learning.
We’re at risk of becoming all index.
The world could probably benefit from your table of contents.
I’ve spent months creating something I’m excited to share: The Mentor Deck. Here’s an invite for 2,000 people to purchase and test the very first edition.
Reading a book changes how you think. But turning those ideas into action? That’s where most of us get stuck. You need more than insights—you need a coach who can take your specific situation and turn it into your next steps.
The Mentor Deck is 52 cards, each one a gateway to an AI conversation. Powered by Claude, each interaction gives you access to a virtual mentor trained on the complete works of transformational thinkers.
Here’s how it works: Pick a card that matches where you’re stuck—decision making, marketing, sales, finance. Scan the QR code. Start a conversation that acts as a firestarter for you and your team.
When you engage with these coaches, something shifts. You find space to expand, to slow down, and to tell the truth about your roadblocks. It’s the missing piece between reading and doing.
[You can try a sample conversation here. Spend just ten minutes and you will see the impact.]
I created virtual coaches that the AI trained on some of the most important ideas and authors of all time. And once you’re in the artifact, you can guide the conversation where you need it to go.
The information was there all along, but the cards help you find it and give you a useful way to have a generative conversation.
What you get:
The 52-card Mentor Deck ($64).
Free access to either my Thriving in AI or This is Strategy workshop on Udemy
A limited-edition 64 page booklet that Claude and I wrote together, based on my recent 65 notes blog post.
Beta testers who submit feedback can get another (revised) deck for $5 this fall when we launch to the public.
I’d love your feedback on which ideas should be included in future decks and how to make the experience more compelling and useful. This beta is all we have available… the full production of decks will be shipping at retail, at a lower price, in November.
You can purchase the deck bundle here. We ship this limited first edition on August 11th. Only 2,000 are being sold in this beta edition. Thank you for helping me make a ruckus.
Sneakers are better for running a marathon, but shoes are better for a wedding reception.
This is the better of utility. Finding something that does the job it sets out to do.
And then there is the better of taste. Yellow mustard might be better than Dijon mustard. Not for me, perhaps, but for you.
When we sacrifice utility for taste, it pays to acknowledge that we’ve done so. Just because you like the shape of the bridge you just designed doesn’t mean it’s going to support trucks that drive over it.
While we can see a director’s point of view from movie to movie, the collaborative nature of the work is evident. Actors, cinematographers and musicians all change what we see. And because of the huge amount of time and money involved, compromise (and the resistance to compromise) are a dominant force as well.
A book might be a solo act, but it’s often influenced by a great editor. Few of these professionals get the credit they deserve (and sometimes they’re called agents or spouses.)
And with rare exceptions, paintings are done by just one person.
Great directors are also great project managers. And broken-hearted screenwriters often began with a misunderstanding of what they were getting into.
When we set out to create, it helps to understand who our collaborators are and to choose them wisely. A well-trained AI, an insightful editor, an A&R person running interference–these are choices.
Understand the medium and your resources before you begin.
August 3, 2025
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