Short-Form

I have noticed in myself a tendency for the last several months to read a book with the goal of getting it done. Of course everyone that starts a book intends to finish it, so it should not be that much of a surprise that I read with this intention. However, what I have been noticing is not my commitment to finish, but rather my impatience to get there. To wit, whenever I am reading a book I am constantly monitoring page numbers, pages read, and how many pages left to finish. I even sit calculating after each session how many pages I would need to read each day to finish the book by a certain date. It’s terrible. And,…

I had an interesting experience with the creative act yesterday. As some of you may know, I have been wrestling for years with the question of what should my life work be about. I’m guessing most folks know me as a strategy consultant that has a small YouTube channel. And, that’s fine. I could easily continue to grow the channel (and my audience) while consulting—all the way into retirement. But, I have felt this urge for about four years now to make my last act count. I want to devote my work to something that’s meaningful and that uses who I am in a way that matters. Whatever that all means. It’s been difficult to sort this out. On one…

I am struck by the power of attention. And, more specifically, how the power of what we attend to—and don’t attend to—guides our actions and, ultimately, our lives. Just a couple weeks ago I had come to a conclusion so important that it made me a little fearful. I had resolved a multi-year struggle over what I should be working on for the rest of my career. I had my answer, a vision really, and it was big. It scared me because it seemed bigger than me. For over a decade I’ve had the image of Peter stepping out of the boat in order to walk across water to Jesus. It’s been a sort of call that won’t go away.…

This is probably the most important aspect of the generative cognitive requirements. Look, I’m not qualified to say really which is more important, but it strikes me that attention is foundational and at the moment under a great assault, more so than say the acquisition of general knowledge or the ability to make connections. What we attend to shapes us. It is as simple as that. And, given the current state of the technological world we find ourselves in, attention is currency. Don’t buy it? The fact that a multitude of powerful and sophisticated entities are working to capture our attention should be proof. Political parties, news media, entertainment conglomerates, sports teams, consumer brands, social movements, governments, religious institutions, social…