Years ago I bought a small framed print in a shop in Fairbanks. It read: "When nothing is certain, anything is possible." I never forgot those words.

When the future breaks open, revealing the new and unexpected, do you see a peril or a possibility? Your response matters more than you think.

My latest article in the Pragdealist newsletter takes a closer look at the powerful insight the print offered.

Thirty years implementing new technologies taught me one lesson the current AI discourse keeps missing:

Innovation, implementation, and user adoption are three entirely different things.

I've watched interactive whiteboards get rejected in favor of dry-erase markers. I've watched sophisticated audioconferencing systems get bypassed for a Polycom in the middle of the table. I've watched oilfield workers cover the camera with a baseball cap—the "hat-cam"—to guard against prying eyes.

Forecasts about AI's impact are measuring from the wrong end of the supply chain.

If we choose carefully, we become the authors of the story—not a character within it.

My latest essay: The End-User Awards the Prize — What the Hat-Cam Taught Me