Communication & Influence - The Thinking Lens

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Communication & Influence

A collection of 9 posts

From “Content Is King” to “Judgment Is the Crown”: Rethinking Authority in the AI Era

Communication & Influence

From “Content Is King” to “Judgment Is the Crown”: Rethinking Authority in the AI Era

Content isn't king anymore. AI makes endless "good" content; trust and judgment are scarce. Your lived experience, context, and perspective are the differentiator. Use AI as leverage, not a crutch. Earn attention by solving sharp problems for real people and building credibility. Own your voice. Go.

The Engagement Paradox: Why Your Best Work Gets the Quietest Applause

Communication & Influence

The Engagement Paradox: Why Your Best Work Gets the Quietest Applause

Deep work often gets few public likes. That isn't failure; it's the Engagement Paradox. Your best readers share in Dark Social where you can't see it. Track trust signals: opens, low unsubscribes, private replies. Silence can mean focus or disinterest. Check the data. Measure, then iterate. Smart.

AI Doesn't Hallucinate. It Makes Mistakes.

Practical AI Application

AI Doesn't Hallucinate. It Makes Mistakes.

Calling AI errors “hallucinations” humanizes machines and inflates expectations. Language is the UI for trust; misuse becomes a shipped bug with churn, support cost, and legal risk. Treat wording like code: define terms, show process, and label errors precisely.

Your Copy is Correct. It’s Also Forgettable.

Communication & Influence

Your Copy is Correct. It’s Also Forgettable.

Generative AI boosts efficiency but flattens voice. When tools push language toward the average, brands and leaders lose distinctiveness. Use AI for polish, not personality. Document tone, keep signature quirks, and build private style models to protect authenticity at scale. Keep your edge.

When Words Lie: The Invisible Risk in Your Product

Communication & Influence

When Words Lie: The Invisible Risk in Your Product

Words shape trust. Product language isn’t neutral: it trains mental models. “Friend” now means barely acquainted; “I’m thinking...” makes users over-trust AI. Audit copy, cut unearned metaphors, and test for over-trust. Tech runs on tokens; products run on words. Clarity is a trust contract.

The “One Prompt” Fallacy: Why Voice, Not Prompts, Wins

Practical AI Application

The “One Prompt” Fallacy: Why Voice, Not Prompts, Wins

Stop chasing magic prompts. The fix is not a template. Define your problem, then train AI on your own writing to build a voice profile. Feed real samples, extract patterns, and revise in your style. Protect your data. Do not copy tone. Engineer sharper thinking, not generic outputs. Your voice wins.

"Ahahaha! Busted! You used an em dash—must be ChatGPT!"

Communication & Influence

"Ahahaha! Busted! You used an em dash—must be ChatGPT!"

Ahahaha! Busted. You used an em dash, must be ChatGPT. I learned about hyphen, en dash, and em dash only recently. I asked ChatGPT, checked Treccani and Merriam Webster. I use AI a lot, but the voice is mine. Tools help me write clearer. The thoughts and the words are still mine. Fully human. True.

Ghosts in the System: Why Naming Dysfunction Isn’t Fluff. It’s Infrastructure

Organizational Design & Culture

Ghosts in the System: Why Naming Dysfunction Isn’t Fluff. It’s Infrastructure

Naming a dysfunction doesn’t solve it, but it makes it visible. Without shared language, teams treat symptoms, not systems: feature soup, strategy drift, prioritization theater. Name it to align, track patterns, and move from vague complaints to structural diagnosis and action.

The Hidden Skill That Unlocks Generative AI

Communication & Influence

The Hidden Skill That Unlocks Generative AI

Generative AI’s power is tied to our ability to communicate with clarity; its output reflects the input. I saw this with my 8-year-old daughter: her vague prompt for a unicorn yielded generic results, but a detailed one created what she imagined. AI is a mirror.