Busyness is not business, at least not to me. I miss the old way of doing business.
I realize that makes me sound old . . . but hear me out. A mentor who is far better read than I am recommended The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy (William Strauss and Neil Howe, 1997). The premise is that society moves in recurring cycles from strong institutions and collective unity to individualism, fragmentation, and crisis, before rebuilding a new era of strength and stability, and that matches what I see (or do not) in my inbox. Business used to happen person to person; now it happens from behind a screen.
I ran my thoughts through AI to check myself. Younger colleagues use it constantly, and I wanted to meet them on their ground. In effect, I used it as a therapist to ask whether I were out of touch. Is anyone else still invested in human connection? Is everyone operating on a purely transactional basis now? Are people more worried about losing their jobs than doing them? Do they believe they can learn all they need from AI instead of speaking with experts?
Stay with me. I am writing as an exercise to understand what will matter going forward, and to ask whether I am missing the mark. I learned some things worth sharing. But first, a walk back in time.
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