Hiring thinkers; blogs persist; agents bedevil recruiters: Newsletter 8 October 2025

Newsletter 118: How to contribute to great ideas. Plus, blogs outlast social media, AI remembers and regurgitates, three people to follow, and three books to read.

Breaking new ground together

Have you ever wondered how consultants generate new content and new ideas? Let me tell you a story. If you are a consultant, workshop leader, or public speaker — or if you hire them — you might find this illuminating.

A leader from a large organization contacted me regarding a writing workshop. But there was a (predictable) twist — she wanted me to include how her writers could best use AI in the training, which I’d never done before.

The timing was perfect for me. I’ve interviewed a bunch of writers about their approach to AI and collected data on writers’ use of AI from a soon-to-be-published large-scale survey. I had the raw material. But I still needed to figure out how to deliver it in an interactive workshop.

As a consultant, you are supposed to bluff in this situation, promising that of course you have the material. Companies pay a lot for this kind of work, so they usually don’t want to hear that they’re trying out untested content. As an analyst I almost always bluffed about this kind of thing, because we were supposed to be omniscient.

But bluffing is lying, and I hate lying. So I told the truth. “I’ve gathered a lot of insights about this new topic lately, but I will be trying it out with you for the first time. Is that okay for your group?”

Yes, it was.

I rapidly discovered that there were several possible approaches. Which one was best would depend on the client’s needs. So after about a week of prep work on the workshop, I got her on the phone again and described the options.

We worked out possible ideas together. I led with vulnerability and openness. She did, too. She told me what her team needed most, which meant admitting some of its flaws.

What I had going for me was experience, confidence, and a solid foundation from dozens of past Writing Without Bullshit workshops. Working out the details together didn’t make me seem weak, it made me seem responsive. And she enthusiastically embraced the idea that we’d make it work together. She bet on my wits, and I liked that. She instantly became my favorite client.

I’m putting in about five times the usual effort in preparation here. It’s partly because this new content will be useful for other clients, too. But a lot of it is because when you have a client like this, you truly want to invest at an extraordinary level, because they deserve it.

Now, take a step back. Ask yourself, where does new content of this kind come from? Somebody has to be the first to receive it.

Maybe that’s not you. Maybe your company only wants tried, tested concepts. Maybe that’s all you can get corporate to pay for, and you want to minimize the risks and ensure your ass is covered.

But you might be like my new client. If so, we’ll be learning things together. It won’t be smooth and polished, but a lot of learning and discovery is going to go on. I’ll be working a lot harder for you, because the stakes are high for both of us.

And at the end, not only will your people know things they didn’t know before, I will, too.

This is where new ideas come from. And if you’re open to it, you could be the first to see them.

News for writers and others who think

This tale of a man who fairly effectively used AI agents to apply to 819 jobs could very well be the most worrying sign of the terrifying meltdown in the world of hiring.

From brilliant startup founder Dries Buytaert, truth: “Social media gives you reach. Blog posts give you longevity.”

AI supposedly digests content and gives answers based on that content. But a computer science paper argues that it’s pretty easy to get large language models to cough up excerpts from memory.

Three people to follow

Matthew Knight, freelancer whisperer

John Levine , legendary author and internet thinker

Guy Raz , host of NPR’s “How I Built This”

Three books to read

How to Be Bold: The Surprising Science of Everyday Courage by Ranjay Gulati (Harper Business 2025). Practical reflections on bravery.

Make Magic: The Book of Inspiration You Didn’t Know You Needed by Brad Meltzer (William Morrow, 2025). A tiny, powerful book about creativity, based on the author’s commencement speech.

Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by mary roach (W.W. Norton, 2025). Mary Roach. The human body. Sure to be vastly entertaining.