unworkableideas

I just posted this fun little article that looks at the role of humans as middleware trying to make sense of data coming from multiple systems with multiple perspectives.

A long time ago I remember the CEO of The Wiremold Company declare at a conference. I don't mind sharing my strategy with you, because I know that none of you can actually implement it. That is kind of how I feel about most software implementations.

I have been trying to figure out what the missing piece to make AI truly useful for organizational work and I realized it is the layer that is between users and the data in their systems. But it is a massive security risk. Still interesting to think about.

This piece came from noticing how often teams (and whole organizations) keep asking for “more data” long after the data they already have stops improving understanding. It reminded me of Productivity Dysmorphia — the feeling of being unproductive even when the evidence shows otherwise.

I’m curious whether others have seen this pattern: where adding more metrics, more dashboards, or more logs seems to make decisions harder, not easier.

Not trying to make a point about “AI good” or “AI bad” — just trying to understand the cultural and behavioral forces that push us toward data accumulation even when it has diminishing or negative returns.

Would love to hear whether you think Data Dysmorphia is real, overrated, or something else entirely.

I am so worried about what the next level of vendor lock in looks like in the age of AI. There's no doubt that AI can revolutionize work, but we need to keep it under our control

The vast wasteland of abandoned online communities and networks is an indictment of our fickle throwaway society even if it is not really visible.

Dashboards are everywhere but are we any smarter? Like most things, I think dashboards might be making us dumber

On one hand, we are trying to get rid of artificial ingredients, but when it comes to intelligence artificial seems to work just fine.

Thank you for sharing that link. I think I learned something and I had no intention of learning

I wrote this piece because I am bothered by the assumption that automating tasks is automatically a good idea. Most of the time, I think trying to think of ways to eliminate activities is a better use of time than automation.

In the rush to automate things, we sometimes forget to ask the question why are we automating these stupid things

Thanks for the encouragement, I will try to continue being weird.

There are definitely advantages to the SaaS model. I was an excited and early believer and I absolutely recognize the amount of work and risk that goes into development of software. I also appreciate the business model — the new version cycle was exhausting in a different way. But working as a reseller for some big SaaS vendors there is just a ton to dislike about the model and the bundling of the services. At certain point, it really stops being about the users and it becomes a game of maximizing revenue. I guess I really can’t blame them, but it adds so many levels of complexity in the name of maximizing revenue instead of empowering users with capabilities.