So what will this new world look like? A lot depends on your particular industry and role. If you are in the service industry, a routinized task-based role, or a paper-intensive desk job (Yes, they still exist), not much will change. Let's be honest.

But - and this is BIG - more and more of us are in project-oriented roles. Our main job is to deliver outcomes, either individually or as a team, using a combination of our intellect, best practices, processes, and technology. And these jobs, these project-oriented roles, are ripe for disruption. So what will this new world look like for many of us? Here are some of the key highlights from our book.


Work can happen anywhere.This may seem obvious now, but think back 2 years. Did you REALLY believe this to be true? Did you live and breathe it? Would you let your go-to specialist - you know, the one that was key to the whole project's success - work from home? From her friend's flat in London? From a bungalow in Costa Rica?

We argue in The Human Cloud that with the right guardrails, communication vehicles, and expectations, remote work is not just possible but in some ways preferable. And given that our companies didn't crumble when project work shifted to 100% remote, it's safe to assume it can and does work.

Going forward, we need to assume that work can happen anywhere and manage to that expectation, even if the majority of the team happens to be local and in-office. Having a virtual mindset and set of best practices mean we can be more flexible to our team's needs and hire talent where it is (vs. limiting ourselves to a fixed geography).


Work is a team sport.This goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway): work is increasingly team-oriented. It's hard to think of an occupation or task these days that is truly best done in isolation. Work has gotten too complex for any one person to reasonably do it all. We're constantly forming teams, both formally and informally, to tackle the varied demands of our day.

Managing teams is an artform - part science, part gut, part leadership - but like managing remote work, it includes a heavy dose of communication, task management, and expectation setting. We talk a lot in the book about managing freelancers and AI capabilities, but those same skills apply to traditional full-time human workers as well.

The lines have begun to blur between an FTE, a contractor, a freelancer, and a "bot". That's not necessarily a bad thing. Why? Because you can learn one operating system, one way of managing teams, that applies to a wide variety of circumstances.


Freelancers are a viable - and valuable - part of the team.Coming out of COVID, many of us are learning the hard way first-hand that talent is in high demand. Supply is limited, and if you are still sticking to only localized full-time talent, that short list becomes even shorter based on your geography and network as well as worker preferences. Smart companies are increasingly looking to freelancers to do more than traditional low-value tasks. They are looking at hired guns for high-value project work, specialized skills, even leadership roles such as a virtual vCIO, vCISO, or vCFO.

There are still structural impediments to hiring freelancers: from risk management and compliance to practical considerations such as payment and systems access. These are solvable problems though.

We're seeing an increase in companies that serve as brokers between freelancers and companies, providing the underlying infrastructure and compliance checks needed for freelancers to work within an enterprise. And these brokers charge a fraction of what traditional agencies command for a similar service. As with other disruptions, technology is displacing what used to take large teams to accomplish, and companies and individuals benefit from this disintermediation.


Technology is part of the team too.Increasingly, technology is not just part of our work life. It is becoming inextricably intertwined. Deloitte, in their annual Human Capital Trends report, talks of "superteams" that combine humans and technology into a unified whole. They talk not of technology as a replacement or something outside of a team. They envision AI as central to how teams function and talk of redesigning work around these new superteams.

We couldn't agree more. We talk of the "Machine Cloud" and the ability to tap into these AI capabilities to create outsized change. We also highlight how you don't need to be a software developer to work with these new machine colleagues. But, we do need to be technology literate - including being conversant with data, logic, and their capabilities and limitations.


In our book, we imagine what a world looks like when work is outcome driven, virtual, and dynamic. COVID made that world happen yesterday, overnight. Many of us were thrust into this new world unprepared, but we can and must adapt. We have faith in humanity's collective ability to grow, to rise to the challenge. Our hope is we can help, just a little, with the right tools.

Read more in our latest book The Human Cloud - How Today's Changemakers Use Artificial Intelligence and the Freelance Economy to Transform Work.

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Matt is a seasoned C-level product and technology executive, entrepreneur, advisor, author, and speaker with 25 years of experience helping business and technology work better together. He has led divisions and portfolios for large global corporations, co-founded three companies and advised several others, been an early-stage employee of two successful tech startups, advised dozens of business and technology professionals across all stages of company formation and growth, and launched over a dozen successful products.

​Analytics in sales and marketing tend to get all the buzz. After all, improving top line revenue is the lifeblood of a company. But improving bottom line margin through cost savings is equally important, especially during economic downturns.

When people hear “cost savings”, their mind often goes to dark places: layoffs, salary reductions, forced retirements. But in most companies, while labor is significant, it is by no means the only cost. Companies typically have many opportunities to improve their bottom line without impacting employment or morale. Analytics can help by identifying areas for improvement and determining effective solutions.

So without further ado, here are 5 ways you can improve your company’s operations.

1. Increase personal and workgroup productivity

The various minutiae that individuals and teams deal with on a daily basis are like a tax, or a drag, on their ability to get meaningful work done. From conducting research and monitoring web trends to processing emails and managing calendars, relatively simple tasks can consume a shocking amount of time for many professionals.

While we all can’t have human personal assistants, we now have access to an increasingly impressive cadre of automated assistants. From Taisk, a general purpose AI assistant, to specialized software like GMass for email marketing management and X.ai for calendering, we can now offload the mundane so that we can focus on more exciting and high-value work.


2. Improve access to relevant information

Did you know the average knowledge worker spends a whopping 30% of their time searching for information, according to an IDC study? Whether looking for an internal how-to for completing a common task or a client deliverable to reuse as a starting point for a new document, access to information is a critical need that often goes unmet.

Analytics can help in a number of ways. Enterprise search engines - think the Google of internal content - allow users to search for documents, presentations, even emails from a simple search bar. These systems used to be expensive and laborious to implement, but today most products including Microsoft Office now include search functionality out of the box and often just needs enabled by your IT department.


3. Streamline and automate your customer service and help desks

Your service desks are likely one of the company’s larger expenses. Multiple shifts, high turnover, handling variable call volume and spikes: it’s a significant but unsung management challenge. You’re likely already using basic call center metrics: first call resolution, time to answer, analyst performance. (If you’re not, start doing so immediately!)

Beyond the basic metrics, there is a wealth of data you can use to further optimize your service desk. Analytics can help mine your knowledge base, call logs, and even convert your recordings into searchable text, leading to better and more nuanced insights into quality and the needs of your user base.

A conversation about service desk cannot be complete without Chatbots. While this technology can be intimidating (for management and employees alike), modern chatbots can quickly learn and become effective thanks to advances in AI. Standalone products like Bold 360 use natural language processing to feel more natural than the call-tree bots of the past. And heavy hitters like HubSpot, Salesforce, and Microsoft now have built-in chatbot capabilities.

4. Evaluate profitability of new and existing clients and projects

Financial analysis used to involve massive IT projects and boring plain-text reports. Analysts would spend upwards of 80% of their time just managing and massaging data, leaving them precious little time to do their real job of analyzing for insights.

That has all changed with the advent of self-service analytics tools like Tableau and Microsoft Power BI. Finance can now quickly turn out sophisticated dashboards and data applications that help companies answer key questions: what segments, industries, or geographies are most profitable? What is the likely profitability of this new project? It’s not just about better reporting. These tools build in sophisticated forecasting and machine learning tools to better segment and understand your business.

5. Improve employee utilization

Employee productivity is one side of the coin: utilization, or their application to important client or internal projects, is just as important. But many cycles go wasted by employees waiting for work, or being assigned to work that doesn’t fully utilize their skills. Staffing projects used to be a manual, laborious, and often thankless job, mired in spreadsheets out of date the moment you hit save.

But no more. The same tools mentioned above for searching knowledge and analyzing financial records can be turned to the problem of optimizing utilization. Products like ServiceNow have built-in demand management capabilities, and internal job matching sites akin to the freelancer ecosystem Upwork make it easier for project coordinators and potential team members to connect.


This is just a taste of what is possible. Stay tuned for other opportunities to optimize your operations and improve your business’s bottom line.

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Matt Coatney is a technology executive, entrepreneur, advisor, author, and speaker focused on bringing advanced technologies to market in the fields of artificial intelligence, automation, future of work, data analytics, cloud computing, and digital content. His work has appeared in TED, MIT, and O'Reilly.
His newest book, The Human Cloud - How Today's Changemakers Use Artificial Intelligence and the Freelance Economy to Transform Work, with Matthew Mottola and published by HarperCollins Leadership, launches late 2020.
His e-course The Business of AI is available now on O’Reilly.
To automate common productivity tasks, check out Taisk, the AI-powered virtual assistant.

If you're like I once was, the idea of presenting to a live audience was about as terrifying as Pennywise and his red balloon. I was a chronically shy kid. My first real presentation was to an audience of 50 people at the International Conference on Data Mining. Yes, that was the total size of the conference in the early 2000's - how far the industry has come. During the talk, I was sweating, stammering, and nearly fainted.

With years of coaching and self-induced immersion therapy, I got progressively better, to the point now where I can talk to an audience of senior executives without freaking out. I even presented to over a thousand people at a TEDx event (but yes, I was still nervous as hell for THAT talk).

A lot of my confidence came from practice and guidance on what makes for good delivery: eliminating filler "umms and likes", pacing, and inflection. But it was a painfully slow process. I would have loved to have had a coach by my side every rehearsal to correct my foibles in real-time.

Well now you can. Microsoft recently launched an AI-based coaching service in PowerPoint Online. You get the benefit of instant analysis - without the judgment or snide comments - that dramatically shortens the feedback loop and helps you improve more quickly. This is just one of many new AI features that Microsoft has been quietly introducing into their Office suite.   

So how does it work? While Microsoft has not shared details of their algorithms (most companies do not), they give some hints, and I extrapolated the rest based on state-of-the-art techniques.

First, the Presenter Coach (as Microsoft calls it) takes the audio track of your speech and converts it to dictated text with timestamps using Microsoft Speech Services.

From the dictated text, the service scans the text for keywords that are viewed as fillers, informal words, inflammatory language, etc. using a dictionary-based approach. This is part of the reason the service is only available in English currently - it has been manually trained by English-speaking individuals. 

The algorithm also looks at pacing, either through the audio file itself or the transcribed text with timings, and compares that to best practices. Are you talking too fast? Too slow? Not enough pauses or awkward silence? The algorithm will tell you that too.

One piece that's more interesting from a machine learning perspective is pitch. The service looks at how much your voice is modulating up and down, loud and soft, based on the actual audio track. It again compares these to benchmark data, to judge whether you are mixing things up enough.

In all, the approach is relatively straightforward and brilliant in its simplicity. It is another great example of Everyday AI you can use.

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​Matt Coatney is a technology executive, entrepreneur, advisor, author, and speaker focused on bringing advanced technologies to market in the fields of artificial intelligence, automation, future of work, data analytics, cloud computing, and digital content. His work has appeared in TED, MIT, and O'Reilly.

His newest book, The Human Cloud: How Today's Changemakers Use Artificial Intelligence and the Freelance Economy to Transform Work, with Matthew Mottola and published by HarperCollins Leadership, launches early 2021.

To automate common productivity tasks, check out Taisk, the AI-powered virtual assistant.

​In the heady and hype-filled world of Artificial Intelligence, it can be hard to separate fact from (science) fiction. We hear of all the ways AI will transform our professional and personal lives, but it seems our lives remain largely untouched by AI outside of the usual suspects like Netflix, Alexa, and driverless cars. Or is that really the case?

Consider just a few of the recent advancements in "everyday AI": intelligent machines working behind the scenes to automate and improve your day, often in ways largely unnoticed. Those firewalls and anti-virus systems protecting you from unsavory elements? Backed by AI algorithms. That smooth corporate Internet connection? Managed and load-balanced by sophisticated learning-based software. The energy-efficient new office space? AI climate and lighting control. The great career boost you got when your company identified you as a "high potential"? AI helped you there too. On the home front, AI helps you shop, communicate, be entertained, and more. 

Just about any area you look today uses AI and AI-enabled automation behind the scenes to accomplish a wide variety of operational and service-related tasks, without all the fanfare the media heaps on the Holy Trinity (Microsoft, Google, and Amazon). This "overnight revolution" has been more of a gradual transition, building over the years as cheap hardware, easier to use software, and skilled developers and data scientists all became more prevalent. Companies of increasingly modest means are now able to embed machine learning capabilities into key elements of their solution, and their customers benefit – without needing to invest millions building their own capabilities.

No corner of the corporate space these days is out of bounds. Companies providing solutions in HR, finance, customer support, sales and marketing, facilities, IT, even strategy and software development are increasingly using decision support and automation to improve outcomes for their customers. Microsoft, Salesforce, and Oracle are good examples of companies AI-enabling significant aspects of their existing product portfolio, which collectively reaches a large swath of companies.

Put another way: we’ve been so worried about AI taking over our jobs that we missed them becoming our co-workers. These algorithms sit by our side, nudging us in productive ways and even making many of the simpler decisions we used to make. And in the next few years, these capabilities will permeate even more areas of our work life. 
​
What does this transformation mean for us individually and as organizations? I see three trends taking shape: de-sensitization and realistic expectations, citizen AI scientists, and human-computer symbiosis.

We are becoming increasingly de-sensitized to the concept of AI and resetting our expectations accordingly. Not long ago, AI was mostly met with fear and confusion, complements of a media and entertainment industry that feeds on our fascination with doomsday scenarios. Recent warnings from tech luminaries helped fuel that fire. While a healthy fear still exists around superior general-purpose AI, an increasing number of people see narrow task-based AI as the utility it is rather than a threat. We are also starting to see computers as fallible, a significant shift from the mindset of the past few decades, where perfectly executing procedural machines were the expectation. These shifts have opened the door for people to be more comfortable with AI and automation. They are willing to work with the technology and understand its limitations. In the terms of Gartner’s hype cycle, we have moved out of the "trough of disillusionment" and into the "plateau of productivity".  

With this newfound comfort in AI technology comes the rise of citizen AI scientists. Like citizen data scientists, these hobbyists come from many walks of life and sit within different departments of the organization. While they might not be able to build a sophisticated new algorithm, they are adept at monitoring advances, championing the use of AI, and helping select, implement, and train capabilities. These advocates will further the spread the daily use of such technologies.

Finally, as AI and automation becomes more pervasive in our work and home lives, the way we interact with computers will transform. Even with advances in user experience and device interaction, we still spend most of our time with new technology learning how to use it. We conform to its expectations and rules. But as systems get smarter, increasingly they will adapt to us. We won’t have to hunt for information, for example. In tomorrow’s world, it will be served up to us exactly when we need it.

With AI becoming more commonplace, we will start to see the competitive landscape flatten, with most every company benefiting in the same way from advancements in smart machines and automation. Day-to-day operations will be improved for all, and competition will shift to the edges, with more advanced companies innovating AI into their core business models. The savvy organization will take the lessons they’ve learned from everyday AI and find ways to align that technology with their key drivers of growth.

Be mindful of all the ways AI is already helping you and look for further opportunities to integrate it more deeply into your organization. AI’s human co-workers will thank you.

A version of this post appears in the December 2018 issue of Technology First magazine

We all have those classes or experiences that leave a lasting impression on us. For me, that was Judo. I was 21 years old, 60 pounds overweight, and had never really done a sport before. But, I had always wanted to do martial arts, and I had a burning desire to finally get in shape, so I signed up for a class.

I hesitantly entered a steamy, non-air conditioned wrestling gym on the 3rd floor of my university's athletic facility, not knowing what to expect. But after the first class, I was hooked.

I ended up joining the team, training 3-4 times a week, shedding 30 pounds, and competing across the state. I even won the state heavyweight championship, defeating a seasoned black belt (in hindsight, it was mostly nerves and sheer dumb luck, but I'll take it).

What surprised me though is how much the lessons I learned have stuck with me, a full two decades later. It heavily influences my personal and professional approach and has become a core philosophy for me. Here are the key lessons I learned thanks to Judo.

Self Esteem
I was not a self-assured kid. I struggled greatly with self esteem, as many angst-ridden teenagers do, and it infected and overwhelmed my daily mental track. I wasn't good looking. I was fat. I couldn't find a girlfriend. I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up. My self worth was pretty low.

Today, it's quite the opposite. I have confidence (hopefully understated) , a positive self image, and a healthy respect for my strengths and weaknesses. I have Judo to thank for that. It was the turning point that set me on the path. It taught me to embrace the things I can control, such as my health and movement, apply leverage in the areas I can influence (e.g. someone else's movement while grappling), and most importantly - to let go of the many things in life that I cannot control or influence.

Most importantly, Judo taught me to have confidence. It showed me I could take on a tough challenge in an area that I never thought I would be good at and still be successful. All I had to do was to try, to take that first step.  

Growth Mindset
Similar to self esteem, Judo taught me that I could grow, that my fate was not sealed. This seems like an obvious, almost trite, statement, but it's shocking how many people believe that their talents are locked. "I'm not good at math." "I wish I were creative." "I could never do X."

No such fixed mindset exists in Judo. I was regularly toppled by people half my size. I was beaten up by a 5'2" Brazilian woman (and feel no shame in that). But I progressed, I got better, through a combination of growth mindset and diligent practice.

Incremental growth is what separates those that ultimately succeed with those that get stuck in place. I've carried that philosophy into my career, and it has made all the difference. Slow and steady truly does win the race.

A Calm Mind
Judo is not just a sport but a true martial art. It is built upon Buddhist teaching, and a key tenet is settling the mind. Mindfulness, meditation, breathing - these are the building blocks of a restful mind.

Judo gave me the opportunity to explore mindfulness before it was ever popular or trendy to do so. I still practice meditation today, and I find that when I do so, everything happens with better clarity and balance.  I perform better at work and make healthier choices. When I fall off the wagon, I find myself getting wrapped up in counterproductive self-talk and unimportant minutia. It is a stark difference.

It All Starts with ​Passion 
I had tried and failed to get in shape for years before starting Judo. Nothing stuck. As soon as I'd hit a wall, usually within the first few weeks, I'd lose motivation and quit. So what was different here?

Passion. I loved the sport. I got hooked immediately. It drove me to spend the next three years getting in shape, enduring pain, bruises, blackouts, broken toes, and more. But I kept coming back, day after day, week after week.

This has helped me carve a path professionally and personally. I gravitate toward things that I enjoy doing, knowing that will fuel my motivation. When I take on projects I'm not as passionate about, I inevitably burn out and abandon them.

What I don't believe is the notion of "following your passion" in career choice. The reality is that a career these days is incredibly complex and multi-faceted. Rather, find the passion in the aspects of any job that you can embrace, and focus more energy on those. That motivation will carry you far, regardless of profession.

Maximum Efficiency with Minimum Effort
This maxim of Judo influences every project I tackle. How can I get better leverage? How can I truly work smarter, not harder?

It wasn't always that way for me. I used to be a workaholic, turning in 60+ hours a week and humble-bragging about it to whoever would listen. Then, we had our first child. And I quickly learned the hard way that this was no way to raise a family or spend a life.

I then remembered my experience with Judo. Expending wasteful energy is trained out of us. We focus on purposeful, decisive movements, using the opponent's own weight and balance against them. It's not brute force but skillful technique that wins matches.

Today, I work a balanced number of hours. I lean on others, rely on a team, and delegate where appropriate. I constantly look for ways to streamline, to ensure I'm working on the right things (effectiveness) and approaching them smartly (efficiency). And I focus on outcomes, not effort.

Leave it on the Mat
We have a saying in Judo: "Leave it on the mat". No matter how aggressive we would get during practice or a competition, no matter how high passions would run, at the end we bow, shake hands, step off the mat, and go grab a beer.

This one has been key for my technology career, where where egos and passions often run high. Yes, I've actually had to break up a fight before it came to punches. Twice.

We all have tension at our workplace. Different personalities and work styles. Conflicting priorities. Mandates from bosses. We can only control so much, and we can influence even less. We must learn to let things go and be able to have a relationship with those we may disagree with.

Mentally compartmentalizing the space where we compete from the space where we live is necessary to have a healthy relationship with those we work with. And after all, we spend a full third of our life with these people. Our lives are much better and easier if we can get along with them.

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I happened to gravitate to Judo, but we all (hopefully) have something like this: a pivotal experience early in our career that helps shape our mindset. A martial art is a great framework for a healthy, balanced, productive life. If you're looking for an activity to get your kids into, I strongly encourage you to consider one of the many disciplines. You and your child won't be disappointed.

Further Reading
The Way of Kusan: A Philosophy on Judo and Daily Life by Tenkai Miki

A colleague recently asked me, "How should I ensure that my work and my contributions get visibility within the company? What new skills do I need to move ahead?" Put another way, how can one stand out and advance his or her career in an increasingly competitive economy?

There was a time when doing your job and working hard were enough to get ahead. But in today's economy, managers and employees are increasingly mobile, and the support fabric that traditionally identified and promoted candidates is starting to fray. The market for talent is also much more competitive. Top talent demands and often gets an increasingly large portion of available wages, leaving the rest of us to fight for the scraps.

So what can you do to stand out, to get noticed and get ahead? I've compiled my and other's best advice on the subject. I hope you find some of these useful in your quest.

1. Be a marketer
No matter what line of work you're in, you need to promote yourself and your work. The laws of marketing apply as much to your personal brand as your professional one. It's a crowded marketplace, and you need to be different enough to break out of the standard mold.   

But if you're like me, you have a distaste for self-promotion. It feels like a cross between a greasy used car salesman and an insufferable know-it-all. So how can you self-promote without being a jerk? Well, there's a book by just that title written by Bruce Kasanoff. He provides invaluable tips on how to get ahead while maintaining your integrity.

​2. Be self- and other-aware
A little bit of "Emotional Intelligence" (or EQ), or awareness and management of your own feelings as well as interactions with others, goes a long way. Most people, especially in highly specialized roles, lack some basic self-awareness and social prowess skills. You can stand out by being more perceptive and in touch with your state of mind.

There's no better source for EQ than the book by the same title: Emotional Intelligence 2.0.  You can also check out the original Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman. Also, you can check out this article on bolstering EQ and team effectiveness by my good friend and mentor, Mike Sweeney.

3. Have a good attitude
I'm sorry, but there's not just an excuse for a bad attitude, snark, grumpiness, whatever you call it. Everyone gets in a funk from time to time, and we all lose our cool. But as a general rule, people are much more willing to take notice and promote you if you're pleasant to work with.

That doesn't mean you need to be phony or overly bubbly. Some of the best people I've worked with had a bit of an edge to them, but you always knew they had their heart in the right place and would do anything to help others out.

I wrote previously about the most common self-sabotaging items and suggest you check it out as well. In the end, assume good intent with others, and doors will start opening for you.

4. Focus on outcomes
Most people focus on showing how busy they are, how many hours they work. That may work in some organizations and for some bosses, but the higher and more enlightened you go in an organization, the less they worry about effort. What matters are results.

This blog post digs into the world of outcomes and why you should work smarter, not harder.

5. Broaden your context
In the end, doing your job well won't get you noticed. It's table stakes, and in today's competitive market, you need to do more than what's asked. The best way to do this is broaden your context, which I discuss in this blog post.

The goal is to understand what things are most strategic for where your organization is heading, then go do those things. You may need to ask forgiveness rather than permission, but people will remember what you accomplish, not that you stepped outside a bureaucratic process.

Closing thoughts
Taking a step back, ask yourself: why are you focused on getting noticed and getting ahead? What's your true north, your end game?

Is it because you're in it for money, for fame? Or because you are looking to make the largest impact possible? Or even better, is it because you love what you do, and you want to do more and more of that? The joy of it?

Understand what drives you and what makes you truly happy, and pursue that. Riches and accolades may come, but if you're chasing monetary gain, you'll ultimately end up unhappy. Take it from those who have gone down that path before and regretted it, and head their warning.

I sat in an internal project meeting, frustrated at the lack of progress on a significant company initiative. Across the table was our head of application engineering, explaining why the project was behind schedule. Sure, they had worked on it here and there, but there were missing deadlines and had no plan to get back on track. 

"Can you at least give me a new date when it will be ready?" I asked. "Nope, sorry," he said. "We'll get to it when we can." Then he said something I'll never forget. "You see, it's not about actually completing things, it's about showing we're making progress." My jaw hit the floor. Really?

Too many people and organizations are focused on effort. How much are you working? How many meetings did you attend? How many emails are you cranking out? How many sales calls are you making? The thinking goes that effort equals progress. The more you turn the crank, the more you produce. Right?

Wrong. That may have been the case in the industrial economy, but in today's knowledge and technology economy, effort does not always correlate to outcomes. In fact, some studies show that the reverse can actually happen. As we work harder, our stress increases and our health and decision making decrease. In the end, we're expending more effort to get worse results. The phrase "Work Smarter, Not Harder" should be the new battle cry for this century's workers.

So what does it look like to put outcomes before effort? Here are a few recommendations.

1. Define outcome-based personal and professional goals
Start by knowing where you're going. What do you need to accomplish for your organization? What do you want to do for yourself and your family? Setting a few key goals and revisiting them once a quarter helps ensure you're marching in the direction you want, rather than being buffeted by the winds of daily noise.

The goals should be straightforward, inspirational, and attainable. If you can make them measurable and create a target, all the better, but don't get hung up on specific metrics. Focus on the goals being directionally correct.

For instance, many people state a goal that they want to "eat healthy, exercise, and lose weight". Notice how those are effort-focused, not outcome-oriented? How about this as a goal instead (one of my recent ones): "Become proficient at Yoga and lose 30 pounds by the end of the year". We'll get to the "how" next.

2. Align effort toward your stated goals
We can't ignore effort. After all, if we believe in the power of a growth mindset, the only way to grow is to expend effort. But it's about smart effort, and the outcomes they produce. 

Many people focus on efficiency when it comes to effort. Can they do more in less amount of time. But we should be focused on effectiveness: are we doing the right things, or are we expending effort in the wrong direction?

Take my above goal of getting better at a specific exercise and losing weight. What are the key efforts I should do to obtain these goals? And, can I "double dip" with activities that meet both goals? For instance, if I perform Yoga for at least 30 minutes four times a week, that helps me a number of ways: actually doing Yoga (an obvious one); getting exercise that will help losing weight; and being more mindful, which limits my drinking and binge eating response to stress. Three for the price of one!

You'd be surprised how much more effective you become when your effort aligns to your goals. Applied professionally, you find that the vast majority of your day is filled with mundane tasks that do not apply to your company's stated goals. Carve out a couple of hours each day to focus on that which matters most to you and your organization. The rest can wait.

3. Create a culture that praises outcomes AND effort
 You can only do so much as an individual. If you're rowing well, but the rest of the organization is out of rhythm, you're still going to go in circles. So how can you create an outcomes culture even if you're not the head honcho?

For starters, you can lead by example. Focus on your own outcomes and congratulate others for their accomplishments, along with the smart effort to get there. We want to acknowledge hard work but in the right direction.

You can also ask how meetings, projects, and other activities fit into the organization's key goals. If you're met with silence, you're likely in a zone of ineffective work. Try to align or reshape the work to be more outcome-oriented.

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In the end, we are what we create. The more outcomes we can produce while leveraging the right kind of effort, the better off we will be personally and professionally. Work Smarter, Not Harder. It's about time.

Further Reading
The Four-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss
​The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker
Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation In Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn

1. We hate the company where we work
Ok, I'll admit it. We do ourselves a disservice on this one. We tend to grouse and complain about all the little things that annoy us. Inept and out-of-touch upper management, policies that feel like they're right out of Office Space, uncomfortable furniture and desks. There seems to be no end to what irks us.

But beneath this crusty exterior I find some of the most dedicated, hard-working individuals in a company. I have more stories than I can count of engineers canceling dates, vacations, even hospital stays to tackle an emergency. Pride of ownership plays a big part, but pride in something bigger, pride in a company they believe in, is often at the root of this.

What you can do: understand that engineers' bad attitudes are often a defense mechanism, and seek the real heart beneath the crustiness.

2. We don't care
A corollary to the above, our crusty attitude extends to all aspects of our life, often giving people the impression that we're not very passionate and don't care about much (outside of being first in line for the new Star Wars movie). You may hear phrases like "I don't care", "whatever, it doesn't matter", or "it's not my problem".

The attitude is really a defense mechanism to avoid getting hurt or burned. Many of us grew up being tormented and teased (despite what people think, being a "nerd" is still not cool), and we adapted by keeping our emotions in check. Deep down though, we care, often a lot.

What you can do: as above, don't assume ill intent and move past the surface attitude to the deeper emotion. Give engineers meaningful and challenging projects to work on, encourage them along the way, and celebrate their successes. 

3. Developers aren’t creative
This one really bugs me, perhaps because I like to think I'm a closet creative. In Western culture, we tend to associate the word "creative" with art: painting, books, movies, music, marketing, etc. But scientists and engineers can be just as creative. They just use a different medium of expression. They mix new design patterns, applications, APIs, and from a palette of foundational technologies, and the results are beautiful (in their own way).

What you can do: treat engineers like other creatives. Give them freedom within "creative constraints" to make a solution their own, give them space and time to work, be wary of strong passionate personalities, and show appreciation for what they produce.

4. Developers don’t make good leaders 
Here's another one where I may be a bit biased. While developers may not have some of the fundamental people skills associated with good leaders, they are dedicated, passionate problem solvers and growth-minded people. Over time, with sound training, they can grow into some of the best leaders I've seen.

What you can do: encourage engineers to develop soft skills, identify positive role models they can emulate, and share that the best leaders are still creating, just in a more abstract way than a developer.

5. Developers aren’t good team players
Tensions between developers can run high, and they tend to look down their noses at non-technical people. But in the right context, with the right incentives and structure, they can blossom as solid team contributors.

The key here is to focus on attitude and shared responsibility, making clear who is accountable for what by establishing clear roles and responsibilities. Often, engineers' complaints about teams are warranted, and can help guide you to a better structure and outcome.

What you can do: pair engineers with non-technical people they like personally to help wear down stereotypes. Set clear project roles and give them a higher cause to work for on the project. Context matters.

And finally, remember this: engineers are people too. Common sense and decency go a long way in combating these myths.

Further Reading
Managing the Unmanageable: Rules, Tools, and Insights for Managing Software People and Teams by Mickey W. Mantle and Ron Lichty
Buy-In: Saving Your Good Idea from Getting Shot Down by John Kotter and Lorne Whitehead
Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio

If you're a high-performing individual contributor who loves to create things, the switch to management can be an emotional roller coaster. I went through many stages of grief as I increasingly moved from the concrete, creating and launching great products, to a middle then senior manager who spent most of his day directing instead of doing. And this isn't limited to technologists like me. Accountants, salespeople, marketers. We all go through this soul searching as our job becomes more abstract.

For a long time, I could not find my new purpose. I floated through multiple roles and assignments, going through the motion and still performing well, but secretly I had dreams of escaping it all, starting up my own business, getting back to my roots. I even joined a startup in part to try and reclaim my glory days of creating products from the ground up. (Thankfully, this was the extent of my midlife crisis!)

But over time I realized that wasn't the answer. The reality is that I'm really good at senior management, and that digging deeper I could find a meaning and purpose far more compelling than I had in individual roles.

You see, I discovered that I'm still building things. Important things. In fact, you could say there's nothing more important. What I learned is that I'm building successful people and organizations. Through strategy and execution, I'm building more effective organizations that help an increasingly large number of people - both clients and team members. Through mentoring and coaching, I'm helping build the next generation of leaders that will go on to do far greater things than I'm capable. 

So today I sit in my office, staring at my computer. 50 unread messages. A half-written PowerPoint. A calendar booked solid from 8:30-5:00 with 15 minutes for lunch. And I couldn't be happier.
 
Further Reading
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You by John Maxwell
How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton Christensen
True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership by Bill George

As a senior manager who has directly and indirectly been involved in identifying and promoting talent, attitude truly is the best indicator of long-term success. Talent and hard work are needed, of course, but those are table stakes. The people who do best over the long haul are those that have a GROWTH mindset.

Don't equate growth with a happy-go-lucky, rose-colored glasses positive attitude. I know many who are more nuanced and pragmatic that are still growth-oriented. I've even worked with a few that are downright negative, belittling themselves at every corner. In their case, the growth mindset is more of a needle in their brain pushing them forward out of fear of failure.

So what is a growth mindset? Put simply, it means you believe IQ is elastic. It means that we can learn, practice, and grow to be smarter, faster, better than before. Seems obvious, right? It's not. So many people (a surprising number, despite the overwhelming research against) believe that we're born with smarts or not, that we're good at certain things or not, and let that drive every decision about our lives. "I'm just not good at technology," I'm not polished or good looking, I can't be in management," "I'm not creative."

We assume that because of poor experiences or a lack of innate talent, we cannot excel in a particular field. So we limit our choices and limit ourselves.

But, the people that press forward, that succeed, aren't usually any better or smarter than the rest of us. They just discovered a system of continuous, incremental growth and improvement that compounds over years to big gains. It's like investing: the more you put in and the earlier, the better your returns.

"Ok, great. So I believe I can grow. Now what?" I hear you say. After all, I'm all about action. Here's what you can do to put theory into practice.

Learn, learn, learn
Sorry, folks, no escaping this one. To grow, we must learn. To learn, we must consume information. Lots of it. For most people, books are the best starting point. They contain a lot of information, are easy to consume in pieces, and are cost effective. If you hated reading growing up, give it another try (you know, growth mindset and all that). I find most people do enjoy reading, IF they can find the right style, genre, and topic to keep their interest. Ask for recommendations from other like-minded friends and colleagues.

If books really aren't your cup of tea, other vehicles of learning exist. Check out free videos on YouTube, courses on sites like Udemy, or paid courses from experts on topics you enjoy. While some sessions may be on the expensive side,  consider it an investment with boundless ROI.

Practice what you learn
Learning is great, but it can only take you so far. To truly internalize and grow, you need to convert that knowledge into tangible practice, which means real-world exercises to test your learning. This can be as formal as a set of materials that guide you through a new skill to informal coaching and guidance from a trusted friend or colleague.

I admit this is an area I could do better. I read a lot, and love what I'm absorbing, but I'm not as effective a learner as I could be because I often stop at the end of the book. Get out there and test what you read, and you'll be amazed how quickly you grow.

Get feedback
Having a trusted friend, colleague, mentor, coach, etc. that can provide real-time, candid feedback about your performance is critical. For those who have had a mentor or participated in sports, you already know the value is immeasurable. We as humans aren't particularly great at self assessment. We're biased, usually either overly positive or overly critical, and we often miss blind spots or poor form that are obvious to others.

Enlist the help of a trusted circle of advisers, and seek their feedback often. I'm sure they're busy too, so be respectful of their time, demonstrate your passion and growth (so they see their investment of time paying off), and help them as you can. Most people are willing to help if it's a two-way street. Just don't be a leech and a time-suck, and you'll be fine.

Make growing a habit
Learning, practicing, feedback, growing. These shouldn't be reserved to the few times in your life when you need to pick up a new skill, or when your manager asks for the umpteenth time if you've finished your annual professional development goal. Make all of this a habit, a system that you repeat as often as you can. Set goals: 2 books a month, 1 new skill a quarter, etc., and get an accountability partner to keep you honest and on track.

Growth takes time and hard work, but the payoff will be enormous. Trust me. This is the one factor that can separate you from 99% of the world.

Further Reading
The Four-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss
Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio
Leading Change by John Kotter

You may have heard this advice put another way: do the job you want, not the job you have. Wise words. You need to demonstrate you're able to take the next step before you actually do. To most, this is unfair and creates more work, so they don't try. As a result, they remain stuck.

But you're not one of those stuck people. You're comfortable with stretching, you're interested in expanding your role and growing your career. So how do you cultivate a broader context? Use these three simple actions to put yourself in your manager's shoes.

1. Read books, blogs, etc. targeted to your manager's level
2. Be attentive in meetings and communications with your manager
3. ​Volunteer to cover your boss while s/he's out of the office

Read Like A Manager
If you're an individual contributor, seek out and find materials - books, blog posts, trade articles, etc. - geared at first time or seasoned people/resource managers. You can peruse Amazon, check out popular sites like Harvard Business Review (HBR), or simply ask your manager what books they recommend.

If you're already a people manager aspiring to a Director/VP level, the most important thing to realize is this doesn't just mean managing a larger group of people. You become an officer of the company, charged with setting and executing strategy, managing finances, and identifying and mitigating risk. Seek out materials and coaching that focus on strategy, business, and being an intrapreneur.

Pay Attention
Context cues are everywhere if you listen to what your manager and senior management says, writes, and - as important - doesn't say. Most employees' eyes glaze over when their managers start talking about strategy, priorities, and market forces, but these are exactly the areas where you need to pay most attention. But it's not enough to just parrot these back to your boss. No one likes a Yes Man or Woman.

Take the time to think through what their words really mean, internalize them, make thoughtful comments that connect the dots across domains or industries. So few people really understand and can articulate company or department strategy. You'll stand out from the crowd if you can do so.

Step Into Your Boss's Shoes
Nothing shows you're ready for the big time like filling in for your boss while he or she is out of the office. Hopefully they take some vacation, but if they don't, you can also offer to cover while they're on business trips.

The biggest mistake people make when filling in for their manager is being too timid and treating it like they're just minding the store. You've been "deputized", take full advantage of it. Stand in for your manager at meetings, find reasons and time to connect with your manager's boss, take action on time-sensitive items rather than trying to push off a decision until your boss returns. If you truly step into their shoes, you demonstrate to his or her boss and peers that you're ready for more.


With the right focus on context and consistent digging to find and internalize it, you can show your organization you're ready for a new, more demanding challenge. The bar (unfortunately) is pretty low, so if you take the initiative and can demonstrate your value in a broadened context, you'll be ready for the big time in no time.

Further Reading
Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio
​The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker
Leading Change by John Kotter

Sound familiar? If you've ever been involved in a large transformation program, you've likely seen the symptoms before. Project burnout. It happens to the best of us and the best of our projects, no matter the importance and initial energy. Why? Because we're human. Persistence and resilience over the long haul are not our strong suits. Just ask people (me included) in March how their New Year's resolution to lose weight is going.

Project burnout is common but not inevitable. You can use a few "project hacks" to avoid it or at least reduce the likelihood. These include

• Building a Coalition
• Delivering Quick Wins
• Celebrating Milestones
• Rotating Team Members

Building a Coalition
Ever seen a C-suite executive swoop in, start a major transformation initiative, then just as quickly bail leaving everyone else holding the bag? It happens more often then you may think, and when it does, the program usually fizzles, dying a slow, agonizing death. Without the forceful personality of a senior exec, the program lacks a sponsor to get it over the finish line.

You can mitigate against this risk by getting executive buy-in across the organization, building a coalition of passionate advocates who internalize the initiative's goals and make it their own. Not only does it provide some redundancy should someone leave, it creates a tribe that supports each other through the change. When one member gets disheartened or burned out, others can encourage him or her and pick up the slack in the meantime.

You can go overboard with the size and formality of a coalition. Keep it small - 3-5 members - and rely on their informal self-organization rather than an overly formal meeting schedule. At most, get them together as a steering committee every few months, giving them space in between those meetings to connect and build bonds.

Delivering Quick Wins
"We're rolling out a new ERP! It's going to be great, it will make your life so much easier. When will you have it? Oh, 3-5 years." See the point above: we humans aren't the best long term thinkers and planners. Just ask our poor planet.

Thankfully, this common cause of burnout is easily solved. Structure your program as much as possible to have a series of quick wins spaced out across the first year of the program. These quick wins should deliver real value to at least a subset of your organization: your internal IT group, an office, a business line, etc. You accomplish two things: building internal advocates who tell others about their positive experience and benefits, and keeping the project team engaged with the program's mission.

Celebrating Milestones
People like to celebrate success. No surprises there. It doesn't need to be hokey or expensive; just enough to say "Thank You" to the broader team and let off some steam. You can throw a potluck or happy hour, give a thoughtful gift or a gag gift about some inside joke of the project, whatever resonates with your team. Be mindful that for many people, an after-hours activity is off-putting, creating more stress and taking them away from their families, so it may create the opposite effect. But a thoughtful, well-executed celebration goes a long way in avoiding burnout.

Rotating Team Members
Finally, plan transition and turnover into your project. This includes you, at least in terms of the role you play on the project. Assume people will roll in and out, so make sure you are not relying on a few critical individuals to prop up your enterprise. Build redundancy and resiliency into your plan, and structure the milestones so they engage different parts of the organization.

Closing Thoughts
Most projects fail. You've seen the stats. Being successful in any project is an uphill battle, something we slog through to reap the benefits on the other side. Just don't overlook the high likelihood that at some point, people will burn out on your project. This includes you! With some forethought and planning, you can minimize the risk of burnout.

Like most things in life, you don't need to go it alone. You're not a mythical hero, and please don't martyr yourself for the sake of the program. Seek out colleagues and mentors that have battle scars from past projects, and lean on their expertise and encouragement. Their wisdom and advice can be its own form of burnout avoidance.


Further Reading
Leading Change by John Kotter
ADKAR: A Model for Change in Business, Government, and Our Community by Jeffrey Hiatt
Change Management: The People Side of Change by Jeffrey Hiatt and Timothy Creasey

I've struggled with weight all my life. By high school, I was 6 feet tall and pushing 230 pounds. By college, when I discovered all-you-can-eat dining plans and - yes - alcohol, I ballooned up to 305 pounds. I was obese. Out of shape. And absolutely miserable with myself.

After school, I worked my ass off (literally) for five years, first by dieting then by exercising and ultimately long distance running, proudly reaching the unheard-of weight of 185 pounds on my 30th birthday. I hadn't been that light since middle school. And boy, was I proud. I made it. I did it. I would never be overweight again.

Then: kids. And a career. And sleepless nights, temper tantrums, sports. Stress triggered those old demons of my youth, and I found comfort once again in food. And the weight came back. Now I'm 41, staring down at a scale and seeing 230s again. Damn. Like alcoholism, this disease is never truly cured, it just goes into remission.

So now I'm back at it again, trying to claw my way back to a respectable weight, dieting and running again, hoping, wishing, striving that I can succeed again. But it's a tough, uphill battle. I'm not sure I'll win it this time.

Ok, I hear you asking: what does this have to do with anything? Why am I bringing up a personal story in my professional blog? The answer is simple. We all struggle. The moment you think successful people are perfect, that they have no challenges or demons, the instant you lift them to mythical status, you secretly sabotage your own drive to success.

Why is believing the myth of perfection a problem? Because you're not perfect. You have challenges. You have demons. And you begin to doubt yourself. How could you achieve great things with such baggage?  But I tell you this. I've sat in rooms with CEOs, founders, and partners in some of the largest law firms in the world. They're all human. They're, surprisingly, pretty normal. And they struggle. They struggle like I do, whether it's managing their weight, letting their kids down missing that important game or school event, trying to rekindle romance with their spouse in the midst of a crazy busy life. The list goes on and on.

So before you put yourself down, or be too hard on yourself, remember: people succeed despite all this, not because they lack flaws.

Further reading

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

Hungry: Lessons Learned on the Journey from Fat to Thin by Allen Zadoff 

Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It by Kamal Ravikant

I used to blame and get frustrated by others too. I'd criticize senior management as inept and out of touch with reality. But over time, I realized that while I couldn't change them, I could change my approach. I began adjusting things (more on that below), and I actually started getting traction. Lots of traction, actually. I became reasonably effective at gaining support for my ideas, and it paid off immensely.

Now that I'm one of those "inept, out of touch" senior managers, I see my colleagues making some of the same mistakes I used to make. Consider this my public service announcement for those caught in the trap of blaming others for their ineffectiveness. And, it serves as a reminder for me to avoid backsliding, as we are all prone to do.

Here are the most common self-sabotaging roadblocks, and how you can overcome them.

1. Self doubt
2. Bad/superior attitude
3. Too much information/detail
4. Not understanding the broader context
5. Not using language management understands 

1. Self Doubt
Deep down, we're all riddled with self doubt, even (especially) those who are so vocally self-assured. We constantly worry we're not good enough for our job, our spouse, our parents, our kids. Doubt is a cancer that spreads and freezes us, stripping our ability to take initiative and suggest ideas. We're worried people will think an idea is impractical or even dumb. We're afraid people will make fun of us and put us down. Or worse, we're afraid people will like the idea, and we will fail implementing it.

But here's the dirty secret. We all feel this way. No one in the room speaks up for the same reason. And those fancy managers sitting in their fancy offices? They're afraid of failing too. You can be the one selling good ideas simply by coming forward.

You can push past this fear, but it's not easy, and it takes practice. I found my voice by pitching ideas to a safe audience of trusted colleagues and slowly working my way into more uncomfortable situations. Think of it as weaning off the old fears that paralyze you.

2. Bad/Superior Attitude
Attitude really is everything. It amazes me how many people undermine their good ideas by wrapping it in complaints or smug superiority. "Well, we could do this, but we always find a way to mess things up." "Those idiots upstairs don't know a good thing when they see it." "The only reason his ideas are ever listened to is he sucks up to his boss." You've likely heard phrases like this before.

Bad attitude is the ugly cousin of self doubt. It's another safety mechanism, meant to protect us from sticking our necks out and failing. But it thoroughly undermines your ability to build buy-in. Managers listen to and reward those that are eager to help make a difference to the organization. This doesn't mean you need to be a rosy optimist. Some of the most successful "intrapreneurs" are skeptical pragmatists. They just know when to turn a critical eye to things and when to put the pedal down and accelerate into an idea.

A good dose of self-awareness and mindfulness goes a long way here. Check in with your mental state regularly, especially in stressful office situations, and try to catch your negative self-talk before it comes out. Take a few deep breaths and adjust before you react and speak.

 3. Too Much Information/Detail  
Ever written or received that 10-page memo selling the next big thing? Everyone does this. If you have a deep technology background like me, you likely do this in spades. We want to be sure we've accounted for every angle, to show how smart we are that we know and thought of everything. Now that I sit on the other side, I realize that managers don't have the time, inclination, or technical depth to pick through your thesis for the nuggets of gold.

When it comes to selling your idea, less is more. Start with a laser-focused executive summary (more on what to include next), put a few key supporting details, and succinctly wrap things up. All those details? Save them for when people have questions, likewise starting with less information and offering up more only as needed.

This one takes practice and an eye toward relentless cutting of content. Having a trusted friend, colleague, or coach that reviews and edits your work helps as well. Generally speaking, you should cut your first draft at least in half. Always. Trust me.

4. Not Understanding the Broader Context
Now that I sit in the corner office, I realize that most of my past frustrations with management stemmed from my own lack of understanding with what it's really like to run a business. It's a lot harder than I gave it credit, and I didn't appreciate all the different levers to success and the numerous challenges that arise.

All businesses, no matter how large or small, are resource constrained. They lack enough money, people, organizational capability, and attention to tackle every great idea that comes along. The only way to succeed is to ruthlessly focus on the few key things that drive a business forward.

If you don't understand this dynamic and how your ideas fit into the broader context, you will constantly be met with responses like, "That's a great idea, but the time's not really right for it" or "That doesn't align with our strategy."

How do you learn about this context? Become an anthropologist. Study your organization, managers, and colleagues as though you were a scientist. What are the explicit messages about strategy and culture? What does the company say is important? What does your manager care about and reward? What are your competitors doing? The more you understand this broader tapestry, the more effective you become.

5. Not Using Language Management Understands
You can clear all the hurdles above and still trip up on this last one. I've seen it (and done it) countless times before. When you're pitching an idea, you need to frame it for your audience, not for you. While I'm sure your boss cares about technical superiority, improving employee morale, and what everyone else is doing, these outcomes don't truly drive managers to action.

The success of your pitch comes down to framing it for management, using their language. Will the idea drive new revenue? Aid in cross-selling? Save money? Improve efficiency and quality? You need to sell the outcome and benefits; the WHY not the WHAT. Again, a coach or trusted colleague is a good sounding board for how the pitch will be received by others.

Bringing It All Together
The reality is the bar is pretty low. The vast majority of people suffer from one or more of these stumbling blocks and undermine their ability to sell their great ideas. If you can master, or at least passably manage, them, you're in a rare minority and will be a breath of fresh air for your company. You'll find your ideas gain traction, you become known as the person that gets things done, and your credibility builds and helps sell your next great idea. It's a virtuous cycle.

I ask but one favor. As you rise within your organization, remember how these weights held you down, and give others a helping hand too. Business is not a zero sum game. We all rise together.


Further Reading

Buy-In: Saving Your Good Idea from Getting Shot Down by John Kotter and Lorne Whitehead

Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation In Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn

Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio

Let's start by dismissing the hype. I've heard deep learning referred to as the breakthrough that will lead to "Strong AI" (universal, general purpose AI) and seems to have gotten some rich (Elon Musk), smart (Stephen Hawking) guys (Steve Wozniak) all riled up about the end of humanity. If we've learned anything from using terms like "Big Data" and the "Internet of Everything", such wild claims may be a tad overblown.

But there is more to deep learning than the hype, and it is a significant step forward. Microsoft now uses deep learning algorithms to improve recognition tasks of its virtual assistant, Cortana, including identifying dog breeds and scoring better than humans on a widely-accepted image classification test. And Google made headlines a few years back with a system that recognized cats in YouTube videos.

Earth shattering? Probably not. But these are steps in the right direction. Here are a few ways deep learning is worthy of more than a footnote in history.

Increasingly Abstract Patterns 
Deep learning and the algorithms behind it are inspired by two complementary fields: brain science and education.

To help see the connection, it is useful to know how the brain works at a high level. Groups of neurons are responsible for detecting a specific type of pattern. These groups process digital input and fire if they detect a match. In reality each group consists of many neurons firing through biochemical mechanisms, but this approximation works for our purposes.

These groups of neurons are logically stacked together in layers. Each "layer" is responsible for detecting types of patterns at a certain level of abstraction. As you go "up" layers, the input to those neurons are the output of pattern recognizers from lower layers. As you add more layers, you get more abstract patterns.

Ray Kurzweil describes this beautifully in his recent book, How to Create a Mind. Using the visual cortex as an example, he describes how a lower layer of neurons detect edges, color and orientation, while the next level up detects "this is a horizontal line", "this is a semi-circle", "this is a diagonal line" and so on. As you continue stepping up layers, you get more abstract patterns, like letters and eventually words.

Learning is a Process 
Deep learning is not just throwing a ton of hardware at the same old neural networks, as some articles have mistakenly described it. Research groups have tried that before, typically with poor results.

The key innovation comes from, of all places, education. Rather than training a neural network all at once, researchers began modeling neural networks using layers (similar to how the brain works) and training each layer in succession. This makes a lot of sense, as it is how we learn. In school, we first learn basic shapes, then our letters, then basic words, all the way up to abstract concepts like emotions and scientific disciplines.

... And the Kitchen Sink
As with many other technology trends, hardware and software must both evolve before a breakthrough occurs. The notion of deep belief networks is not entirely new, but until recently they would have been far too computationally intensive to be even remotely practical.

In the case of deep learning, you really do need to "throw the kitchen sink" at the problem. Companies with enough resources (think Google, Microsoft and Facebook) can now assemble massive clusters of reasonably priced computers that are powerful enough to train these "deep networks" and detect meaningful abstract patterns. To get a sense of scale, the Google project that identified cats in YouTube videos used roughly 16,000 processors. Take that, Grumpy Cat.

To make the most of deep learning, you also need a lot of data to analyze. Thanks to the exponential increase in data from the Internet, sensors, and businesses, we have another kitchen sink we can throw at this problem.

What's Next
I am not worried about an imminent AI-pocalypse. Instead, I am excited for the future and how a new generation of smart machines, able to learn more like we do, can improve our lives. Here are just a few possibilities:

• Smarter decision support tools that improve the effectiveness of government policy and NGO relief efforts
• Better educational software that can serve as a virtual tutor for those without the means to pay for professional assistance
• Personalized medicine that greatly reduces the trial and error necessary to get a condition under control (Assurex Health is just one example of this exciting space)
• Virtual digital assistants that learn our habits and preferences, helping us organize our calendar, manage tasks, and be more productive