I have been in Canada all this last week with the AI Implementation event… a good trip. However what really surprised me was that Christmas seemed to arrive before me, at the start of November!
Already in one restaurant… it was in full force – snowflakes, candy canes, Christmas menus and inflatable Santa’s. Two months ahead… and what with the temperature outside a balmy 23 degrees C to boot… it certainly did not feel seasonal.
I don’t know it just seemed too early… and I suppose thank goodness for Halloween that it cannot migrate even earlier… a festive ‘seasonal decorations’ line in the calendar, but even so it is now 1/6 of the year.
Still, it has been nice to be back.
This time I am staying more out of town, further out, where the prices are more reasonable and things more local. This however means it is a bit more of a commute into the city for events etc.
Without a downtown base, you often need somewhere to sit between meetings. My location of choice, near a Tim Horton’s underground in the PATH, the network of walkways beneath the main downtown buildings. It is free and, especially towards the end of the day an unexpected pleasure.
During the day, these spots are always super busy. People grabbing a coffee, eating lunch, there is a buzz and a hubbub to it… It is all very familiar, the energy of rushing between meetings, or even trying to finish up to head back to pick up kids from school etc. Life is busy these days, and sometimes a blur.
This trip, however I am on a different work pattern… and with my current jet lag, to be frank still on an unknown timezone… so there post 3pm.
End of day it is a different experience. The PATH is subdued, most people have gone home, and it is like sitting in a library.
Plenty tables and quiet, save for the soft whirl of the cleaning machine and pattering of the cleaning staff, many of whom seem quite pleased to see fellow humans sharing the space. It is all very relaxing, and pleasant watching friends meeting each other and the world go by in general.
It did made we think about the different speeds we experience life. Sometimes it feels like they are in are different worlds.
One is full of meetings, success indicators, trying to catch trains, flights, meeting deadlines… generally rushing around to get things done…. “Busy?… I’m very busy!”
Then there is the other… working on what needs to be done, then grabbing a coffee, meeting friends, listening to what is going on… a different pace of life.
Of course, we can move between those worlds, but like with the Christmas decorations it feels as if we are being pushed into doing more, more busy tasks, getting more done. It is easy to lose ourselves…
Yet with the advent of AI, this task oriented busyness may be precisely the skill that is not needed.
Generative AI, LLMs and AI Agents are starting to enable us all to have mini-helpers to get more done.
We saw this at the AI implementation event, and certainly is new capability I have been using to get more done, and done well.
But, whilst output has increased, the understanding and design around what makes us tick, the what to we as humans need is still needed. Probably now more that ever.
And reflecting on the week, I am thinking this is something AI is not going to help with… yet strangely enough something that sitting quietly in the PATH with a cup of coffee (and feeling proud I did not have that donut) can.
So as we head back into the office this week, and I back across the pond, it is something to ponder… how do we ensure we invest those productivity gains, not into doing more… but into delivering better… for better people outcomes.
Have a great week everyone.
