Are you spooked by AI or do you think it is a treat not a trick?
AI is a real treat because it can do so much good. However, we can be spooked by it and fear it is a trick. Businesses must manage that fear to gain from AI.
Blog posts and articles
Do you lack creative intelligence, or do you just need confidence?
On Wednesday evening, I was in the local pub. There, I admit it, I was out with friends in the middle of the week. Shocking. It’s a large pub, and it was packed. As we sat there tucking into our evening meal, we discovered why. In a separate bar area …
Do you need to check if your things can still be safely connected?
Yesterday, I went to Oxford, eager to attend the Professional Speaking Association’s annual Speaking Business Summit. Shortly after I arrived, I realised my enthusiasm to get on with the day had made me forget something basic. As I sat down in the conference room, my phone buzzed in my pocket. …
Are you ready to be more like Jeffrey?
On Monday afternoon, my wife and I headed to London for a book launch at “The News Building” at London Bridge. We were looking forward to the event hosted by The Times newspaper and Times Radio in the home of HarperCollins, the world’s second-largest consumer book publisher. It was all …
Is it time to get AI to reignite one of the habits you learned at junior school?
Yesterday, I was shocked to read the news about a leading TikTok influencer with 9m followers, a Netflix series to her name, and a $20m net worth. She is Alix Earle, and she caused a bit of an internet kerfuffle this week when she said that in her 25 years …
Is it time you started arguing with artificial intelligence?
At home, my office is near the kitchen, and the other day, I decided it was time for a sneaky snack. But as I took the few steps from my office towards the cake tin, I realised my knees were hurting. Normally, my knees don’t hurt, so I wondered what …
How much time do you devote to practising your skills?
The other evening I went to a comedy club in Clapham, London, to watch the top TV comedian and winner of “Strictly Come Dancing”, Chris McCausland. He was performing alongside Rachel Parris, another skilled comedian trying out fresh material. At first, I couldn’t understand why the tickets were only £8 …
Can you make tiny changes at work that add the simplest meaning?
The other day, I received a lovely email from a colleague at work, telling me how much I had helped them. It was a touching note and stood out from the usual bunch of messages, such as those that ask when a report will be delivered or demanding a meeting. …
Is now the time to prepare your business for impending doom?
Last week, I watched BBC Newsnight when Lord Toby Harris said we should all be stocking up on tinned food and bottled water. Lord Harris chairs the National Preparedness Commission, which advises the Government and the Civil Service on how the country should prepare for emergencies. On Newsnight, Lord Harris …
Could you harness the power of a real community for your business?
This weekend I will avoid going into the centre of my local town, Reading. That’s because it is “Reading Festival” weekend, when over 100,000 visitors descend upon the place. At an average of £300 a ticket, they must really love being with one another in a muddy field. People who …
Would you be accountable for digging a big hole?
The world is drying up. Yesterday we learned that the mighty Danube is so low that there is not enough water to cool nuclear power plants along its course. The day before, we were told that the drought in Central America is taking greater hold, causing problems in the Panama …
Is now the right time to take a look at alternatives to Google?
Somehow, I missed the eclipse the other evening. I was travelling and ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time to catch a glimpse of the moon obscuring the sun. Indeed, I arrived at a motorway services at around the time the eclipse was due, to find hundreds …
Are you working really hard but not getting the job done?
The other day I was talking to a colleague about a student who I described as “so laid back they are almost horizontal”. This young man has been achieving good grades, but is so chilled it makes it seem as though he does no work, yet manages to get everything …
Has your business become too dependent on the World Wide Web?
Today is “World Wide Web Day”, when we are encouraged to celebrate the creation of the WWW. Nobody quite knows why today was selected as a global day of celebration of the web. The date does not coincide with Tim Berners-Lee’s original proposal for the web. That was submitted on 12 March 1989. Nor is it the date on which …
What can you do to make everyone really happy at work?
On Monday, the UK got a new Prime Minister, and he set to work straight away trying to make everyone happy. Even before he set foot inside Number Ten, he promised to eradicate rough sleeping. The next day, he gave every household a £45 tax cut by dropping tax on …