Radical Centrism, Aimless Wandering, and the Surprise of Finding Purpose
Drowning in AI hype? Tired of AI doom? With my work, I aim to chart a third path—skeptical, but forward-thinking, steering between evangelists and apocalyptics. Subscribe to my Substack to get my take on the future of work.
Here's a little secret about purpose: It's perfectly fine to stumble around like a drunk philosopher with no idea where you're heading. The world's too messy to pretend you can divine your "true purpose" in the middle of a hurricane. Just keep walking, talking, and watching the chaos unfold. Eventually, clarity will smack you on the head.
The irony is, I've spent years preaching the gospel of purpose while completely ignoring my own sermon. I've been the guy evangelizing goal-setting, purpose-driven narratives, and the sacred Job-to-be-Done framework in my books. Meanwhile, my Substack? Total strategic wilderness. What's the point of this newsletter, you ask?
Uhh... nervous laughter 🤔
My book Human, Robot, Agent had a crystal-clear mission: dissect how AI and this so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution are reshaping work, then blueprint smarter management values and principles for the age of human-AI teams. Mission accomplished, if the feedback from readers is any indication.
But my Substack? Pure improvisational theater.
I eventually landed on "navigating between hype and doom" because I kept finding myself playing referee in the stupidest fights. The AI evangelists breathlessly declaring AGI by Tuesday receive my eye-rolls. The doomsday prophets shrieking about mass unemployment get my pushback. As a recovering optimist with trust issues, I see both the promise and the bullshit, and I'm masochistic enough to argue with everyone. The beautiful curse of radical centrism is that every extremist thinks you're sleeping with the enemy. The acceleration bros call me a dream-crusher. The pessimists brand me a Silicon Valley cheerleader. It's like getting punched from both directions—which, frankly, doubles the entertainment value of social media. I've called it the Law of Tragic Nuance.
There's just one problem: "balancing hype and doom" isn't a destination—it's the Belgium of purpose. Sure, I prefer nuanced takes over binary thinking, but nuanced toward what? I never bothered answering that question, for myself or my readers. And that's actually fine, because sometimes you need to shut up, listen, and watch people stumble over obstacles without them even realizing it.
So I wandered. For months. Like a consultant without a client.
Until…
I suddenly realized where I was heading.
I found my vision, the Job-to-be-Done, and I'm about to become insufferably repetitive about it for the foreseeable future. You'll either get sick of hearing about it or you'll grab a pitchfork and join the movement. I'm betting on the latter. If you're paying attention, I've already dropped breadcrumbs in my last three posts: here, here, and here. More ammunition is incoming.
Meanwhile, massive gratitude to these legends who upgraded their subscriptions and are bankrolling my caffeine dependency: André Faria, Fàs Labs, Mohammed BELLAMINE, Moritz, Mary, Rute, Al S. Brown, Sergio Bogazzi, Frank Weyhers, Maxlbob, Kevin Houston, 2048, Gaëlle Seret, Levi, Julie, Wolfgang, Oliver Golser, Rick, Renato Mendonca, Adrian Bignell, Thomas, Crystal Larson, Cyril, Jonathan M Rayback, Michael Hannan, Daniel Creutzburg, and several others whose accounts I can’t find.
For paid subscribers, I've got a few nice surprises brewing this month. Your support keeps both my laptop charged and my cynicism caffeinated. Much appreciated! ☕☕☕
Stay sharp.
P.S. Here's that dirty secret again: It's perfectly fine to stumble around with your product or business for a while. The world's too messy for premature certainty. Keep walking, talking, and watching. Clarity will find you when you least expect it.
Many creators and leaders either blindly praise AI or cry about the end of the world. What if we navigate a better way? I try to make sense while others make noise. Be a critical thinker. Subscribe to my Substack.
