Newsletter 64. Why progress requires embracing people’s right to be wrong. Plus the decline in publishing workers, Gucci vs. Lord & Taylor, three people to follow and three books to read. The freedom to be wrong We’ve gotten to a point where we rip people apart for being wrong, when we should be celebrating them….
I recently saw a Substack post from a technology analyst titled “Crowdstrike publicly confirms AI Caused worldwide computer outage.” Since none of the other coverage I’ve seen suggested that AI was the cause of the outage, I looked into it. My conclusion: AI did not cause the outage, and it’s irresponsible to suggest that it…
Election forecaster and statistics pundit Nate Silver has a new book out. It’s called On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything and it’s billed as an investigation of “the River,” the “community of like-minded people whose mastery of risk allows them to shape–and dominate–so much of modern life.” Like any author, Silver and his…
Newsletter 54: Honesty is impossible but essential, why the Times bestseller list favors liberals, free books for 2 million kids, plus three people to follow, three books to read, and a sneak preview of our author ROI research. On telling the truth We all are certain we are honest people. We all hold truth as…
If you are an expert, you need to serve all the clients in your audience. You need a diverse portfolio of examples to draw on, so you can answer any question. All of your examples will be in some way similar, because they all relate to people similarly situation to your audience. For example, they…
Newsletter 48. Knowledge workers are old hat; long live idea workers. Plus, audiobooks grow like mad, Texas court refuses to restore banned fart books, and proof that AI will never stop hallucinating. Also, three people to follow, three books to read, and a chance to register your experience as an author. The ascendance of the…
Newsletter 38: How to navigate a world dazzled by novelty; growing market for faith-based books; Russia’s steals a year of Wall Street Journal reporter’s life; plus, three people to follow and three books to read. The disproportionate visibility of the new I’ve been reading business news and analyzing business strategy for 40 years. One thing…
Great writers, thinkers, and researchers see patterns that others cannot. They then tell you about what they see and what you can do about it. Of course, of the things AI is best at is recognizing patterns. Does this mean writers, thinkers, and researchers are going to become obsolete? Not quite. First off, people see…
Here’s what I learned as an analyst: research broadly and do not stop at one idea. The job of an analyst is write about what is not known. This requires primary research — that is, talking to people in the market you’re involved in, or collecting data about it. It also requires analysis, which is…