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AI

I came across a comment to a LinkedIn post fawning about AI, and it resonated. So I built on it it:

 

The problem is not AI. The problem is laziness. AI writes averagely. And average is by definition not distinctive. If you use AI without its own frayed edge, you get text without a soul.

Writing is cognitive strength training. As you form sentences, you force your brain to turn vague intuitions into explicit ideas. You can't completely outsource that process without losing something. New insights arise precisely in the friction between thought and formulation. Those who only publish and do not think for themselves miss that friction.

Ask yourself what you think is better: a story generated in a matter of seconds, albeit with smart prompting, that reads the same as all other stories created in the same way? Or one where a human is involved who really has an opinion about something? Who can offer insight, experience, specific knowledge, real differentiation? Someone who genuinely cares about the text?

With the world becoming increasingly awash with slick, formulaic AI-generated text, authenticity becomes a scarce commodity. And scarcity creates value. Those who spend time formulating, contemplating, chopping and changing, honing – they’re the ones capable of creating stories with impact.

We are in the midst of a cultural shift. Technology has made mediocrity scalable and widely available. And yet originality wins hands-down, every time. The choice is yours.

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Thailand journey, January 2023

Thailand journey, January 2023

January saw us taking a group of over 100 top leaders from a global data, insights and consulting company to Thailand for a five-day journey.

As usual, I was interviewing, observing, filming and generally gathering as much content as I could for a book and other follow-up material. Being there was as spectacular and life-affirming as ever. Even got to witness Chinese New Year in Bangkok's Chinatown... incredible. 

For your information dear reader, there is a reason why I don't mention the name of the company who goes on the journey, or the name of my client who organises them. I'm sure you can guess why the participating company isn't mentioned by name: confidentiality. And the reason I don't mention the name of my client is because participants who hear they are going on a journey often start Googling to find out about the destination - which is always a secret - and end up on my website. 

Read more …Thailand journey, January 2023

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Women's EUROs 2022

As the Dutch team reporter for UEFA.com, I spent 20 days in northern England — Manchester, Sheffield, Rotherham and Leigh — during the Women’s EUROs 2022.

During that time I did exclusive, sit-down interviews with approximately a dozen players, covered all four of the Oranje Leeuwinnen’s matches, did pre- and post-match interviews every time with coach and players, and also wrote a number of feature articles for the website.

Possibly the most enjoyable tournament I’ve covered so far.

Read more …Women's EUROs 2022

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The 7 Life Elixirs

Towards the end of 2018 I was asked by Erik-Jan to help him finish a book that he’d started several years previously with an American ghostwriter.

I knew about the book – The 7 Life Elixirs – because I was one of the people he asked to read through the first manuscript. I recognised that there was a lot of really excellent content in it, but that it wasn’t always presented in a coherent way. On top of that, a lot of the descriptions were – to put it mildly – esoteric. There was definitely a great book in there, but a lot of work was required.

I knew about the book – The 7 Life Elixirs – because I was one of the people he’d asked to read through the first manuscript. I recognised that there was really excellent content in it, but that it wasn’t always presented in a coherent way. On top of that, many descriptions were – to put it mildly – esoteric. There was definitely a great book in there, but a lot of work was required.

We kicked off the process in earnest in February 2019. I needed somewhere away from all the normal distractions so I could fully focus on the book. Erik-Jan suggested Portugal; who was I to refuse?

I got a major chunk of the work done there on Algarve, but over the subsequent years there were a lot of revisions and new insights. We also visited Curaçao twice in 2021 so I could film him talking about the elixirs in a way that could be used for an online course.

During 2022 we spent a lot of time in the recording studio, putting together audio practices that accompany the book/online course.

And in March 2023 the book was finally published. It’s fair to say that, apart from Erik-Jan, I probably know more about the content than anyone else in the world. And in a very unbiased way, I suggest you read it. I don’t believe there’s anyone who couldn’t benefit from one of the teaching/suggestions/concepts/practices.

Read more …The 7 Life Elixirs

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