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…
Agile is a popular philosophy for application development. It focuses on iterative development, customer focus, collaboration, adaptability, and continuous improvement. It’s also a horrible way to write a book. The positives of Agile don’t apply to books Agile is appropriate where a world where the needs of the customers and the available technical improvements are…
It can take many months or years to assemble a book. Sometimes there are gaps in your work as an author, as life intervenes. It’s fine to work on a book from time to time as your availability allows. But once you start writing in earnest, it’s best to keep going. The fundamental principle is:…
Career advice for the pre-AI era looked like this: Work as creatively and productively as you can. Solve not just the problem put in front of you but the broader problems it reveals. Learn to use the most modern tools that can help you do your work. Carefully check your work; assume there are errors,…
AI is an average writer. It creates clear but boring prose. Average writers aren’t very good teachers or editors. So here’s how I see it. If you are an excellent writer, you can use AI to do better research, draft ideas, test out different ways of writing, and get feedback. You can then use your…
If you follow this space regularly, you know I’m driving around Nova Scotia and New Brunswick this week. For the most part, I find that Canadians do things at least as well as what I’m used to in the U.S. — usually better. And the road signage is remarkably similar, down to the type used…
Airbnb gets a lot of snark these days for people’s perceptions of the extra things they are supposed to do. They go in thinking they are getting a bargain, and then find themselves doing the host’s housework. If this is you, you are using it wrong. How to evaluate an Airbnb stay I am in…
I had a dream last night. I was presenting to a group of people at Forrester, the company where I worked for 20 years — and then left to go freelance for the last ten years. The presentation went really well. I couldn’t tell you now what I was presenting on — dreams are like…
What happens when people demand something illegal? We find a way to make it legal and compensate those whose content was stolen. That’s what’s about to happen with AI. We’ve seen this over and over with digital innovations. Napster made electronic access to all music possible — but violated the rights of musicians and record…