This week I have learned…
- it hurts a bit when a client says that they don’t want to work with you any more. Even if it’s just economics. Even if it’s not just you and other suppliers are also being shown the door. Even if it all makes some sort of logical sense. It’s inevitable that one starts to ask what could have been done differently, what did I do wrong. If I didn’t feel like this then I’d be working for one of the big consulting firms…
- testing ideas out is the best way to find out if it’s a good idea or not. There’s no point in gilding idea lillies. Get a prototype out there, try it out, act on feedback.
- Maybe the reason why people don’t talk much about things that didn’t work out is because they fall into one of two categories: cataclysmic failures and really dull anecdotes. Most failures fall into the latter category, and nobody really cares to hear “I tried something but it didn’t work so I stopped doing it”.
- The signals I keep getting from friends and acquaintances who are freelance are really not good. 2024 looks like it’s going to be as hard as 2023.
- I think I’m starting to get my head around where generative AI can be useful in my working life. When I think of it as the research assistant I never had it becomes more valuable.
- The questions for the year ahead that I think we should all be asking: “What parts of my job would be better done by machines, and which part of my job are the bits I enjoy?”. There’s a career development Venn diagram that emerges that might be interesting…
Next week: the end of the birthday parade
The week in photos:
mmitII 