Part 2 of 6 (Description of GenAI framework and ChatGPT “fit”) can be found here.
Part 3 of 6 (Steps to Getting Started) can be found here.
Part 4 of 6 (High-Level Concepts to Understand) can be found here.
Once the core suggestions are adopted (install ChatGPT and purchase the Plus monthly subscription) and you have started to work with the platform (“kick the tires“), the process for learning, creativity, and skills growth is to embrace a personal dedication to investing in yourself. No one can tell you an exact path to follow or the right or wrong ways to develop yourself. When technology is brand new, there is good news and bad news to accept:
Good news – you get to touch and experiment with the tool to find what is compelling for you. The TwinzTalk duo loves touching and experimenting with tech tools, and we have been early adopters throughout our lives.
Bad news – you must walk your own path of assessment and growth. You are responsible. No one can give you exact answers on what works for you.
While YOU are responsible for deciding your path forward (Don and I strongly discourage the decision to dismiss the technology as not relevant to you), resources exist to accelerate learning. In this section, we are sharing resources on influencers and online learning that we have identified and have been invaluable to our growth in using ChatGPT Plus. We hope some of these resources are valuable for you.
Listed below are courses I have completed and found helpful. Coursera, Udemy, and LinkedIn Learning are my favorite go-to sources for free or nominal personal development courses. We recommend browsing these platforms and locating topics you want to learn more about. The barrier to entry is often low (free or nominal cost), and the available content is spectacular. The hard part? Making the commitment to invest in your growth.You are in control. As Seth Godin would encourage, “Go. Make a ruckus.” Dedicate yourself to learning and then share your learning with others.
Coursera – Prompt Engineering for ChatGPT- Instructor Dr. Jules White, Vanderbilt University
This is part 4 of 6 posts introducing ChatGPT and a path forward to consider for adoption and learning growth. Part 1 of 6 (Introduction) can be found here. Part 2 of 6 (Description of GenAI framework and ChatGPT “fit”) can be found here. Part 3 of 6 (Steps to Getting Started) can be found here.
Prompt engineering – overview: Prompt engineering is designing and refining inputs (prompts) given to AI models, like ChatGPT, to optimize the quality and relevance of their outputs. This process involves carefully crafting questions, statements, or scenarios that guide the AI to generate responses more aligned with the user’s intentions.
Prompt Library – prompting styles will be a repetitive process. Build a library of frequent prompts used. Per ChatGPT, “Developing a prompt library—a curated collection of well-crafted prompts designed for various tasks, questions, or scenarios—offers numerous advantages for users engaging with Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT. This practice harnesses the model’s capabilities more effectively and efficiently.”
Custom Instructions – per ChatGPT, “Building personal “custom instructions” for ChatGPT is akin to personalizing a tool to work more effectively for your specific needs and preferences.” Seth Godin describes and gives examples of custom instructions in his blog post,ChatGPT for you dated September 20, 2023.
Iterative process – The ChatGPT thread builds on the previous prompts, helping to expand thinking or dive more deeply into a topic. Per ChatGPT, “The iterative learning process in a prompt thread with ChatGPT refers to the model’s ability to build upon previous interactions within the same conversation to generate responses that are more accurate, relevant, and customized to the user’s ongoing queries or requirements.”
Hallucinations – Per ChatGPT, “In the context of GPT models, hallucinations refer to instances where the AI generates information or data that is inaccurate, fabricated, or not grounded in reality. These hallucinations can range from minor inaccuracies to entirely false narratives or facts. Understanding and mitigating the risk of such hallucinations is crucial.”
The list above will quickly expand as you work with ChatGPT, yet a brief understanding of these topics will enhance your ability to work more meaningfully with the platform. Below are influencers and courses to consider that will allow you to delve deeper into your areas of interest. Stay curious and open to learning, and show up daily to build your skills and real-life examples that will inspire you to keep going.
Personal development has been a lifelong passion for my twin brother Don and me, born out of our competitive college years and desire to be our best selves. What started as self-serving during our college years has evolved into striving to bring out the best in ourselves and others.
Introducing the Inspiring Work of Nils and Jonas Salzgeber
In Part one of this series, I’ll share the background of Don and my personal development journey and introduce you to brothers Nils and Jonas Salzgeber. Their mission of personal mastery through their newsletter and website, NJLifeHacks.com, resonates with us. They combine ancient wisdom like Stoicism with modern science to help people become better versions of themselves.
I’ll also preview the three book recommendations that are covered in this blog series:
Coach Wooden’s Leadership Game Plan for Success by John Wooden and Steve Jamison
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson
The Little Book of Stoicism by Jonas Salzgeber
Part two dives deeper into the timeless life lessons we can learn from legendary basketball coach John Wooden. His wisdom on hard work, staying in the present, and improving yourself to improve the team is powerful.
Part three explores Benjamin Franklin’s 13 Virtues that were key to his success and pursuit of self-improvement. These character traits like temperance, sincerity, humility, and others are relevant today. Walter Isaacson’s insightful biography of Franklin is also referenced.
I hope this series inspires you never to stop learning, improving and becoming the best version of yourself. Let’s go on this adventure together and help bring out the potential in each other along the way. Stay tuned for part one coming up next!
This is part 3 of 6 posts introducing ChatGPT and a path forward to consider for adoption and learning growth. Part 1 of 6 (Introduction) can be found here. Part 2 of 6 (Description of GenAI framework and ChatGPT “fit”) can be found here.
Where do I start once I have ChatGPT Plus?This is one of the most common questions that Don and I are asked. We cannot tell you what the best use cases are in your situation, but we can provide examples that stimulate thoughts for ideas. We firmly believe that once you start working with ChatGPT, your creativity will be ignited, and you’ll be off and running!
From a macro perspective, we believe that the mainstream availability and ongoing development of GenAI and, for discussion here, ChatGPT is an advancement in technology that every person needs to be curious about and engage a willingness to experience the potential of how this can and will impact their world. Whether you are paying for ChatGPT Plus or not, you already ARE paying for it (if not – you are paying through inefficient efforts and reduced talent development – which is imperative in today’s world).
Through our TwinzTalk efforts, we have created a hierarchy to contemplate when working with ChatGPT and other LLMs:
Determine your task to be done.
Is the task a “black or white” (a concrete answer is achievable)?
Use the tool to ACCELERATE what you do. Productivity can be exponentially enhanced.
Use the tool to ENABLE what you should do. Tasks such as documentation of processes are now quickly and painlessly achievable.
Use the tool to ALLOW what you cannot currently do. An example would be Advanced Data Analysis to write Microsoft Excel VBA or Python code needed – beyond existing skillset.
TwinzTalk Hierarchy – Thinking about use cases for ChatGPT and other LLMs
This is part 2 of 6 posts introducing ChatGPT and a path forward to consider for adoption and learning growth. Part 1 of 6 (Introduction) can be found here.
A brief description of GenAI and ChatGPT is provided below. “Zooming out” to take a higher view helps to clarify where the ChatGPT LLM fits into the picture of the larger theme of GenAI.
Prompting ChatGPT with “Please describe the concept of generative AI and how LLMs such as ChatGPT fit into the concept,” this helpful explanation was generated:
“Generative AI refers to a type of artificial intelligence that can generate content, whether text, images, music, or any other form of media. It’s not just about analyzing or processing existing information but creating new, original content based on the data it has been trained on.
Within the realm of generative AI, Language Models (LMs) like GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) are specialized in understanding and generating human-like text. These models are a subset of generative AI focused explicitly on natural language processing (NLP), the domain concerned with the interaction between computers and human language.
ChatGPT, a variant of the GPT model, fits into the concept of generative AI as a state-of-the-art language model. Here’s how:
Pre-training on Diverse Corpus: ChatGPT, like other LMs, is pre-trained on a vast and diverse text corpus. This pre-training allows the model to understand language patterns, grammar, context, and writing styles.
Generative Capabilities: ChatGPT can generate coherent and contextually relevant text based on the input received after pre-training. It’s not just retrieving answers from a database but generating them, often creating content that didn’t exist before.
Fine-tuning for Specific Tasks: While the base model is already powerful, ChatGPT can be fine-tuned for specific tasks or exhibit certain stylistic or thematic preferences in its output. This makes it highly versatile and adaptable to different domains.
Understanding and Generating Contextually Relevant Content: ChatGPT, especially in its latest iterations, is adept at understanding context and generating relevant content. It can continue a conversation, answer questions, write stories, code software, and much more, often in a remarkably human-like way.
In the broader picture of generative AI, LLMs like ChatGPT represent a significant leap forward in our ability to automate and enhance various text-based tasks and interactions. They are key players in the ongoing evolution of AI, pushing the boundaries of what machines can understand and create in terms of human language.”
On February 14, 2024, I introduced an initiative that #TwinzTalk Don and I kicked off – getting started with AI and ChatGPT referencing an overview document titled ChatGPT Lite: How to Get Started. We have been engaging with ChatGPT Plus and other AI Large Language Models (LLMs), such as Claude AI, starting in December 2022, shortly after Open AI introduced ChatGPT on November 30, 2022.
The future of work changed instantly with the availability of LLMs for the mainstream consumer.
“The reason AI language models are dumb is that they don’t actually know anything, the model is simply calculating probabilities. Not about the unknown, but about everything. Each word, each sentence, is a statistical guess.
I’ve switched mostly to claude.ai because it’s more effective and less arrogant, but it’s still guessing.
If a guess is good enough, you’re set. If it’s not, plan accordingly.”
“Don’t ignore AI because it’s dumb. Figure out how to create patterns and processes where you can use it as the useful tool it’s becoming.“
Don and I have emphasized from the beginning:
A mindset of curiosity, optimism, and possibility, balanced with realism, is imperative. Learn and grow with the tools.
Know what you are expecting to receive from prompts. Domain expertise is critical for evaluating output that needs to be specific and accurate.
Approach AI results critically, and educate yourself on the limitations, considering the results you seek.
Although not perfect, embrace the possibility of AI to enhance thinking, creativity, and productivity exponentially.
We created a visual, shown below, to consider the potential uses for anyone. This is not a question of “how can this help me professionally?” Please think at a more macro level: “How can this help me, and how can I then help others by bringing more value to the world?“
TwinzTalk Framework – GenAI and ChatGPT
Embrace the possibilities and create value for your world!
ChatGPT Dall-E Image – Personal Development Contemplation
“Take what you do seriously. Do not take yourself seriously.” This quote is a theme Don and I have embraced throughout our careers and lives. In our chosen paths in our lives, we must be serious about doing our best and continually preparing to be the optimal contribution we can be. The world is counting on this, and often, we are paid to deliver our talents to an employer. The employer is counting on us and, in turn, provides a paycheck that enables us to support ourselves and those we love. The obligation to perform is serious.
“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”
—Steve Prefontaine
Do not sacrifice the gift. Prioritize time continually to build your skills and build an asset that brings greater value to the world. Personal development must be a priority and is non-negotiable. In a blog post dated March 31, 2024, I wrote about personal growth and the inspiration our family received from Dr. Aziza Shad’s example. Who among us would accept a medical professional who is not committed to their own personal development? Take what you do seriously and always be learning and growing. Non-negotiable.
A #TwinzTalk initiative developed by Don and me focuses on an agenda of personal development topics. One section within the agenda is our list of recommended books. The list includes thirty non-fiction books focused on personal growth.
With our evolving and growing skills, we must be kind and generous to help others. An abundance mindset that embraces “when others win, I win” will serve you well in the long run of life.
Attributes of an Abundance Mindset, Kindness, and Generosity
ChatGPT Dall-E Image – holding door for a stranger
A theme near to my heart and one that has been rewarding for me throughout my life is embracing the concept that kindness and generosity are imperative attributes contributing to our individual fulfillment, success, and happiness. Caring about helping others is a surefire long-term strategy. This is not a purely altruistic suggestion. When others win, we eventually win. I am happy to see April Rinne and others in my social media world are also adamant believers. I am certain their influence over the years has inspired and shaped me to become the professional I am today (and the work never stops).
The evolution of social media and many genuine relationships developed over the years have lifted me up, and the kindness and generosity people bring every day inspire me to strive to bring the same to my network IRL and virtually, to honor and pay it forward for those who have helped me “level up.” We are who we surround ourselves with, and I have found many treasured people who lead by example of how to care, be generous with their talents, and treat others. That’s the tribe I want to belong to and am blessed to have in my life.
The level of kindness and professionalism I witness on social media and with online communities of practice (currently involved in Brainstorm Road Seth Godin-inspired Purple Space, and Harold Jarche’s Perpetual Beta Coffee Club PBCC) has sharpened my lens about all the relationships and interactions in my life. I strive to do my best to help others and to be in community with other like-minded humans.
A final book recommendation is Adam Grant’s Give and Take. Adam makes the case that givers often succeed in their careers and lives. He makes the point that helping others does not need to be grand gestures that take a large commitment of time. A Good Morning America video on YouTube highlights the idea of the “5-Minute Favor.” I know you will be inspired to take action!
Additionally, April Rinne referenced Adam in a spectacular LinkedIn post where she referenced generosity and his book.
Assess your priorities and how those can move you toward your goals and dreams. Once you have clarity, establish a commitment to personal development and be intentional about leading with generosity, kindness, and concern for others. I promise you inspiration and a gratifying cycle of positivity that will bring enhanced growth and happiness to your life! Many of these steps cost no money – just a little consideration when interacting with others.
Please do not sacrifice the gift that you have to make a difference for yourself and others!
In part 2 of 3 here, I share thought-provoking content from Morgan Housel and April Rinne, asking us to assess how we define wealth and what is our individual “enough” in terms of material consumerism.
Defining Wealth: Freedom in Control Of Our Time
In his book, The Psychology of Money, Morgan Housel defines freedom as “The highest form of wealth is the ability to wake up every morning and say, “I can do whatever I want today.”
I agree with Morgan’s view that true wealth is not monetary (though we must be able to sustain our chosen life) accumulation of money, but rather the ability to know that we have the ability to CHOOSE where we prioritize our most precious asset in life – our time. “People want to control their lives.” In the chapter, he goes on to define freedom with a quote I need to frame:
“The ability to do what you want, when you want, with who you want, for as long as you want, is priceless. It is the highest dividend money pays.”
Most of us may agree that Morgan’s ideal here is a wonderful aspiration. Wonderful, but easily dismissed as unattainable? Let’s unpack this a bit – I will argue that setting this vision as your North Star is a dream that can guide many decisions as you build through your life. Am I saving for the future? What are my material needs, and how can I reduce them if necessary? What are my core priorities with this one life I have to live? Contemplating these questions brings us to the next book of inspiration, where April Rinne defines one superpower as “Know your enough.“
Know Your Enough (the trap of consumerism)
In April Rinne’s book Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change, she discusses eight “flux superpowers” that “empower people to see change in new ways, craft new responses, and ultimately reshape their relationship to change from the inside out.” Our world is in constant flux, and we must find a path to help us navigate these rapidly changing and tumultuous times. I highly recommend this book.
For this post, the focus will be directed to her flux superpower number 5, “Know your enough.” April references our relationship with consumerism and the too-often quest for more (and more) material consumption. Life fulfillment and happiness are not derived from owning stuff. She makes a compelling argument in her book, encouraging us to assess our relationship with “physical stuff.” Bold emphases are mine:
“This “cycle of more” and the script that powers it can be quick to take root and surprisingly difficult to let go. The truth is: no amount of physical stuff can ever replace your inner sense of worth, but it can easily bankrupt you (and harm the environment in the process). Yet the old script persuades you of the exact opposite. This is how today’s consumerism is designed: the goal of “more” can never be fully satisfied, which keeps you tethered to the hamster wheel, clicking on ads and buying things that never fully satisfy.
But hold on. This is a script. And it’s not a script that many people would opt into, if they actually paused and thought about it. Who wants to live for an unattainable goal set by others, that’s exhausting and expensive, and often brings more jealousy than joy?
The new script sees through the mirage of more and says, enough is enough.
With your Flux Mindset opened, you can begin to reset your metrics and write a new script. This shift—from an interminable quest for more to a clear understanding of your enough—is simple yet profound.
Knowing your enough does not mean being miserly, uncharitable, or living in scarcity. If that’s your reaction (or your fear), you’ve misunderstood this superpower entirely. Knowing your enough is in fact the opposite of these things: it gives you room for generosity and plenitude. (A great irony of this superpower is that in a world focused on more, you’ll never find enough. Yet in a world focused on enough, you’ll immediately find more.)
Knowing your enough brings clarity about what really matters. When you know your enough, you have less anxiety and your ability to thrive expands a lot. Honing this superpower unleashes your full potential to the world. Knowing your enough sees through the futility of comparison and empowers you to develop your own metrics of “enoughness” rooted in internal satisfaction, meaning, relationships, resilience, discovery, and helping others. Such metrics transcend a price tag. They don’t diminish the success of others: I am not “more” fulfilled than you, or vice versa, if we’re clear on our respective enoughs. To the contrary, we’re more capable of lifting one another up.”
The perspective shared by April is spot-on and worth doing internal soul-searching to clarify what is important to us individually. How we prioritize our use of time must be a process of deliberate daily work – are you making decisions that align with your life’s purpose and the presence you want to bring to the world?
James Clear 3-2-1 Thursday’s newsletter, dated April 11, 2024, highlights a common occurrence where we often take different jobs for more pay without consideration for the lifestyle implications:
“If you already live a comfortable life, then choosing to make more money but live a worse daily life is a bad trade.
And yet, we talk ourselves into it all the time. We take promotions that pay more, but swallow our free time. We already have a successful business, but we break ourselves trying to make it even more successful.
Too much focus on wealth, not enough focus on lifestyle.”
In the final part 3 of 3, we turn our attention to the presence we bring to the world. Our focus on personal development, using our skills to help others, and bringing a mindset of abundance to our lives where we know kindness and generosity to ourselves and others will be life-changing to our lives and those we interact with. A daily, no shortcuts lifestyle that changes everything in our lives. The potential cannot be overstated.
Excellence and kindness. These are themes in my life that became more intentional after our family discovered the concept of post-traumatic growth in 2015. Inherently, my personality has always bent toward a gentler and softer approach toward others. Yet, my commitment has since sharpened and become a steadfast part of how I approach my daily life. Thanks to the work of Gary Vaynerchuk, Tom Peters (his book The Excellence Dividend was my book of the year in 2018), and Daniel Burns KindLoook initiative discovered through my participation in the community of practice “Writing in Community,” I now unabashedly consider myself a kindness advocate and [desperately] want others to join the movement!
On July 2, 2022, on a beautiful sunny day in Berthoud, Colorado, my wife Terri and I were on vacation visiting our dear friends Linda and Mark Misencik when I was contemplating my daily writing to be completed. My exact words from my writing entry for the day included:
“Another book idea is percolating while contemplating experiences on vacation.
Working title (“paint at the wall”) to evolve and work with:
“Excellence and Kindness: Live It. See It. Celebrate It.”
My “lens” towards life gained even greater clarity that day. I would strive to intentionally live with excellence and kindness; I would make an effort to see it happening around me, and when I witnessed it, I would celebrate it by acknowledging the kindness or, if unable to acknowledge it, I would move forward inspired to pay kindness forward in honor of the moment I witnessed. Excellence and kindness can and do ripple beyond the act. I choose to believe this and live accordingly.
This thought, shared in the book Thriving as an Empath by Judith Orloff, MD, resonated with me:
“In Buddhism, karma is the destiny you earn through actions and behaviors. What you give is what you get.”
Through my journey of kindness advocacy, my life has been enriched by discovering others who share the mutual desire to make the world a kinder place. I am eternally grateful for everyone who has touched my life with kindness – because they cared. I leave you with this quote:
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
― Maya Angelou
It feels good to make others feel good. When you light another candle, your candle loses nothing. In fact, your candle will burn brighter!
In this blog post, Don and I champion eliminating email from one’s personal and professional life to reclaim precious time and improve productivity. My twin (#TwinzTalk) Don and I were inspired by Luis Suarez, who successfully gave up corporate email in 2008 while working at IBM. Luis argues that email is a broken model of communication and collaboration that consumes too much time and buries important information.
We suggest that individuals can enjoy several benefits by consciously reducing email usage and adopting alternative collaboration tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams, enabling increased transparency, reduced spam and phishing risks, and more time for learning, personal growth, and family. We recommend starting with a hybrid approach. For example, consider limiting email to two 15-minute sessions per day to gradually transition away from email dependency.
Our post references Suarez’s journey and insights shared in an openSAP podcast. Suarez emphasizes the importance of individual action in breaking the email chain, openly sharing knowledge, and admitting that email overuse is a problem. He also highlights the challenges of transitioning from closed to open communication and the potential for AI to eliminate mundane tasks.
Our blog post serves as a rallying cry for individuals to join the “virtually no-one community,” reclaim control of their time, and enhance productivity by reducing email usage. We believe that by embracing this mindset shift and finding better ways to collaborate, people can build more fulfilling lives and become more effective contributors in all aspects of their lives.
Full Original Writing – Reclaim Your Time by Going E-Mail-less
Don and I are on a continual quest to find smarter and better working methods. When we can “find a better way,” we are excited to try [primarily] technology tools that might help us move in ways that enhance our ability to contribute to our worlds and improve our ability to reclaim more of our most precious asset – the time in our lives. Since December 2022, much of our efforts have been dedicated to studying and working with the potential of GenAI and ChatGPT. Yet this topic, which we feel is one of the most compelling in our now 40+ year careers, is only one of a long string of adoptions that have provided us a disproportionate advantage in our careers and lives.
“There’s a way to do it better – find it.” -Thomas Edison
In 2016, we were introduced to the collaboration platform Slack. Don and I immediately recognized the potential to reduce EMAIL use and create transparency around documentation and conversations among colleagues. We were off and running, working with the platform and encouraging others to embrace the potential that we felt was compelling. In hindsight, our vision was correct. Slack and, later, Microsoft Teams have become ubiquitous in the working world. However, almost seven years later, EMAIL seems to be raging as the go-to communication tool for many people and businesses.
Don and I felt as though we were on an island with our tenacity to vastly eliminate the use of EMAIL in our lives. Being on “the road less traveled” was a common feeling we experienced while pursuing smarter and more effective ways of working and living. We grew to enjoy living in the long tail of technology adoption.
If almost anyone is asked, “Do you struggle with email and the time required to manage it?” most people would respond emphatically, “YES!” Yet, because we all are familiar with this standard in our businesses and lives, we accept the burden and time-suck imposed upon us. Accepting a known inconvenience that everyone else is managing lets us off the hook of needing to confront the challenge of changing how we work. Instead, often, we complain and keep marching forward with the status quo. Don and I run toward finding a better way. We like to acknowledge and embrace that we are members of the “Virtually No One Community.”
A community of practice that I participate in is Harold Jarche’s Perpetual Beta Coffee Club (PBCC). A member of that community, Luis Suarez, posted on LinkedIn on February 15, 2024, that he was celebrating his 16-year anniversary of “surviving corporate life without using email!” What a radical (inspiring to the Twinz) thought and initiative to embark upon in 2008. We proudly count Luis as a member of our “virtually no-one community!”
Why is the elimination of email such a big deal? The number one encouragement we implore is, “You reclaim time in your life to dedicate yourself to matters of greater importance – higher quality work time for learning and growing, and most importantly, time in your personal life for your family and other priorities.” Being a more effective, efficient, and contributing person across all aspects of life is compelling. Who does not want to be a more optimal performer?
In this podcast episode, openSAP Podcasts – Education NewsCast – Episode 277, “Insights on NoEmail and distributed, remote work with Luis Suarez,” Luis talks with Thomas Jenewein about his decision to choose to eliminate the use of email in his corporate life. If you think, “My company is too big, and this would not be possible in my case, Luiz made his decision when he was working with IBM!“
Indeed, there is a better way, and Luiz shares his insights on making #NoEmail a reality in your world. At 23:00 minutes, Luiz shares his thoughts about starting with a hybrid solution to reducing email. This is the solution that Don and I embraced starting in 2016. Currently, I prioritize two 15-minute daily periods to review and clear email. My goal is to be intentional with my email review and not exceed 30 minutes per day. In addition to reclaiming precious time in our days (mentioned above), a few additional compelling benefits for us include:
Using a collaboration tool (i.e., Slack or MS Teams), sharing and transparency “for all to see” enhances access, and information is not buried in email.
EMAIL spam and phishing risks are eliminated.
Time saved from email management is available for prioritizing more important personal or professional matters, such as learning, development, and personal growth.
On February 15 and 18, 2008, Luiz shared blog posts about his decision to eliminate email. It was a courageous move that the mainstream world thought ludicrous. One reaction to his announcement was, “You will be fired within two weeks.”
I highly encourage listening to the full podcast discussion. Luiz stood up and said, “Enough” to the challenge that email brings to so many of us. May this post and his emphasis throughout the podcast inspire you to take action and reclaim your precious time! As Don and I did, starting in earnest in 2016, we adopted a conscious mindset to reduce and control the use of email. A hybrid approach has worked for us and changed our lives – personally and professionally!
Below are several timestamps in the podcast that were notable in my listening, but please listen to the full podcast!
3:00 – Why no email?
4:15 – Email is a broken model of communication and collaboration.
5:45 – Two different kinds of reactions. First, “You will be fired within two weeks.” Note – Luis was employed with IBM when he implemented his decision. He was NOT fired within two weeks.
8:10 – Now, in 2024, receive EIGHT emails per week. EIGHT!
9:10 – Myth of Inbox Zero.
9:40 – If you really want to reduce email, YOU, you, the individual, need to stop using email first. Break the chain.
10:20 – Why am I doing it?
13:30 – Study how you use email (to begin the process of elimination – small steps).
16:00 – Openness and transparency using different tools.
17:00 – My knowledge is not my knowledge. It’s everyone’s knowledge.
18:00 – Hoarding knowledge in email. Why?
19:50 – YOU are much more powerful if you share your knowledge with others.
23:00 – Hybrid solution – less email and use other tools allowing transparency. This is a great starting point.
26:20 – In your email inbox, you cannot scale…
31:45 – Change is hard…
37:10 – The transition from closed to open is a very challenging shift to make. Everyone wants to be an expert.
39:15 – Hiding in your inbox is not going to take you anywhere.
41:30 – Start with admitting, “I do have a problem.”
42:00 – GenAI helps get rid of mundane tasks. Why not eliminate mundane tasks? Hard stop. There is no need for AI in this case!
45:20 – We need to take back control of how we do work.
Join the movement and build a more productive and fulfilling life for yourself. Thank you, Luiz, for taking your position in 2008 and living true to your mission. You have inspired the twinz and shown the world what is possible. There is a better way – and you have found it!
Bonus – please read the following media coverage of Luis’s initiative to eliminate EMAIL:
