When we recently fielded the “AI and the Writing Profession” survey, I was delighted to be able to generate well over 1,400 responses. It’s not just bragging rights. Big samples are better in a lot of ways. I’ll explain why. Use caution in interpreting surveys with small and biased samples At Forrester Research, where I…
Every thought leader wants to be known for a powerful, breakthrough idea. It’s very hard to create the idea that breaks through. But if your idea is big, new, and persuasive, you have a chance. It also helps if its timely and has a catchy name. But even if you do all that, you may…
Newsletter 113. Principles for principled thought leadership. Plus, the value of “time under tension,” endless PR, three people to follow and three books to read. The thought leader’s pledge Nineteen years ago, my soon-to-be coauthor Charlene Li told me that our objective was to become “thought leaders.” That sounded pretty cool. I wasn’t much of…
Social media is full of experts. They all have opinions. But should you hire them for their expertise, and should you trust them to help you make decisions? The 2×2 shown here is a good way to think about them and their strengths and weaknesses. In the descriptions below, I refer to their “space”: the…
I’m digging into the data we’ve collected so far in our survey about AI and the Writing Profession, and I thought you might be interested in how survey analysis professionals like me work to generate insights from such data. (The survey is still open until September 4, if you’d like to add your own perspective.)…
When presented with a supposed fact, what is your approach? The partisan mindset: If it confirms my prejudices, I accept it and immediately share it. The contrarian mindset: If it seems wrong, I find reasons to reject it and most likely, denigrate whomever shared it. Neither of these mindsets improves human knowledge. The analytical mindset…
Newsletter 102. New truths from survey data, how AI twists writers’ minds, and Scholastic’s implosion, plus three people to follow and three books to read. Lies, damn lies, and statistics It’s pretty damn easy to create statistics these days. I know what I’m talking about. In 1996, I helped create and launch Technographics, Forrester’s survey…
You’re an author who wants to change the world. Just like every other author. Writing a book is a big effort. You think it’s worth it because you want to change the world. And I’m sure you’re right. Whatever the world is that you want to change — the world of partisan politics, the world…
No one wants unsolicited advice. Here’s what that means. No matter how brilliant you are and how perfectly suited your knowledge is to someone’s situation, your unsolicited advice will not help them. They will not listen. And they will resent you. What that looks like About weight loss. This is solicited advice: Your friend or…