A few years ago, I read an article from @johncutle.fish and @tomdkerwin.bsky.social on how leaders navigate uncertainty and ambiguity. It inspired me to write my answers down to a new section of questions every few years. This is part two! It's been fun to look back and see my thinking mature

Thanks to @erikahall.bsky.social @amyhoy.bsky.social @camerontw.bsky.social @dougrabow.bsky.social @tomdkerwin.bsky.social @edzitron.com @goodspeed.bsky.social @acuity.design @allenholub.bsky.social for the writing that made it into this milestone issue of the Picnic!

VCs fund companies who get on the latest hype train. But when the product doesn't solve any real problems, showing "progress" is impossible! So a lot of people are going to come back to the office this week and set goals based on what activity is easiest to measure, rather than what is important.

One company lost 30 points of NPS in a single day. Not because customers were unhappy. Not because the product changed. Not because anything in the real world was different. So what actually happened? And why did they cover it up? reach.crownandreach.com/posts/lies-d...

Putting an idea out there that just occurred to me while chatting about 'The Thick of It' with @tomdkerwin.bsky.social - I think the UK needs a 'Silicon Valley' type satire. A British startup trying to be ambitious, but hampered by insecurities and class differences.

Sucks being in the timeline where Randall and Waternoose got away with it

Personalization feels like it should easy ‘cos humans are good at messy context. So why is AI p13n so crap? AI struggles because human tastes aren’t neat. We cluster weirdly, and small differences matter a lot at the edges. Popular stuff is easy to recommend. Matching your weird is impossible.

I wrote this on this day ten years ago. It has become a necessary ritual to share it again each year and to remember for those who no longer can.

Tall Tales, Tue 28th Jan: All star cast featuring @garethmedwards.bsky.social @johnfinnemore.bsky.social @alxfrnkln.bsky.social @rosalieminnitt.bsky.social Susannah Pearse, North London Tavern, 8pm, £5 Lovely to see you there, email us: www.listenandoften.com/talltales

Still the best cover ever And probably the best thing on the internet The cuts “introducing the band” at the end 👨‍🍳😘 https://youtu.be/pmfHHLfbjNQ

Wanna see the exact moment when Duke Ellington stopped giving a toss about tune naming?

This is the most accurate image AI has ever generated

Art deco style Lindy Hop painting for a dance studio.

Today I have a genuine reason to use my woodworking router Yay?

Still the best cover ever And probably the best thing on the internet The cuts “introducing the band” at the end 👨‍🍳😘 https://youtu.be/pmfHHLfbjNQ

Morning Coffee ☕️ Struggling today. The path I thought I was taking, not working out so far. Head down, keep going? Or seek another path?

I was thinking about why I’m so bullish on the idea of product teams starting new initiatives with a Hard Test. A Hard Test is when you ship an ugly, low-scale, rough, hand-drawn version of Your Big Idea to at least one actual customer. It’s uncomfortable - scary even - and I think I realised why

Like, is this more a place for observations about the world, or sorta work-related shitposting? I guess it will be whatever we make it.

Poasting right? I’m finding I don’t have a feel for the grooves of this place yet, so I don’t have an instinctive drive to throw thoughts in here

mmmm yes, the artist’s radical experimentation with form and technique pushes the boundaries of what painting can be, opening up new vistas of aesthetic possibility, while inviting the viewer to contemplate the mysteries of existence and the human condition 🧐

“The problem is that we are trying to predict what people want and deliver it for them. You can't do that. Not really. Not reliably.” https://gist.github.com/chitchcock/1281611