Context Switching
A new muscle for the GAI era
(7 minute read)
This weekend I reflected on my calendar from the prior week and all of the unique engagements that took place. I had a series of IRL and virtue meetings that came together in a blend of randomness and intentionality.
I discussed customer journey pathing concepts with my project management partner.
I discussed strategic narrative implications with a former client for high performers vs. categories of people who are struggling with their career trajectory and how people don’t invest in themselves as a rule. He sees a growing need for soft skill development among his peer group.
I discussed the intersection of purpose and identity with my CEO client and where that fits on a personal, leadership, and thought leadership level. We ventured into several topics of deep thinking that took us into core fundamentals and 1st principle-level approaches that are human truths.
I discussed a new company rollout with a CEO in Europe who is launching his fifth company. We dove into the efforts to reimage a category that is different from what exists today. Raising money to advance POC to Market Fit, while building out the long-game approach. He believes looking outside of the category he is in, is where he finds his differentiation. Let everyone else battle out incrementality games.
I spoke with a recruiter who works with industries that are facing disruptive change and the challenges of finding C-level candidates who enact change, but don’t become an organ rejection by the organization. The need to go deeper than a resume or CV. And, how can you predict fit - beyond the standard personality tests available today?
I met with a group of Catalysts over cocktails that led to conversations about Sustainability, Regeneration, Disruptive Innovation inside a Global 50 company, and the notion of living in the “valley of pragmatism” in today’s public companies. No one wants to take on the risk of being the “naysayer” or the “disruptor” for fear of losing their job.
I met with my AI partners to dig deeper into the next layer of building out a vision for a new form of self-expression. I am learning the parameters and possibilities of how GAI, Machine Learning, and the next progressions of embedding and RAG work with images and text. I am beyond my comfort zone.
I met with a retired industry colleague who continues to marvel at the pace of change and the implications of GAI on the digital marketing/advertising world going forward. Especially in light of Sam Altman stating that 95% of marketing will be replaced by GAI within 5 years. Yet his former company is thriving, because they focus on customer service and deep thinking vs. being transactional. We discussed purely transactional companies will face hard times over the next 24 months.
I visited a new wine region in Placer County (Sierra Foothills, CA) with some friends who recently moved to a new town and wanted to venture out and meet with new wineries, farm honor bars, and olive growers. We met the coolest people, listened to great music, tasted some interesting wines, and learned about owning an “Olive Orchard” in Lincoln, CA, and Spain. As small owners, each is dealing with supply chain issues and modern payment platforms, while being creative in how they market their business. Every conversation came back to “relationships” being key.
It was a week of context-switching. Completely random, yet seeds of interconnectedness were everywhere.
As a solopreneur, context switching is a normal day’s work. Yet, through my conversations with a variety of different people across a wide range of industries, the idea of living in the valley of pragmatism struck a nerve.
As someone who is a lateral thinker, I value associating with people who are more pragmatic than me. I need that complimentary mindset to help balance out my tendencies to operate horizontally and dive into deep thinking mode when curiosity takes hold.
I find context switching stimulates new angles and pathways for thinking differently. For getting out of your comfort zone and finding parallels that you didn’t see before. Like, learning about the history of building heights from early man to today’s skyscrapers and how that led to new structures and systems in computing.
Hearing about biological evolution from three different sources on three different topics prompted me to dig deeper into neural networks and neurosciences for how GAI will play out in our lives going forward. We are mimicking human biology. Those were the courses in high school and college that did not capture my interest at the time.
I fear GAI accelerating in my “crucible” (from my Modalities post). It is a fear I want to lean into and figure out. I believe that each of us has a unique talent and matching skills and GAI can be used to augment our Narrative equity going forward.
I believe context switching is one of those skills that will become a power skill. I believe knowing your narrative equity is becoming paramount to staying ahead of the curve. Our need to establish a Second Curve is now. I will touch more on that in future posts.
NOW (How you are realizing this today)
Do you context switch?
Are you aware of the different kinds of context you are engaged with every week?
If not, have you done an audit of your calendar?
NEW (How you will realize this tomorrow)
Audit your calendar (Jan + Feb + March YTD) to take inventory by Friday.
What have you learned across different contexts that can apply to your current project?
What don’t you know? What do you need to know by the end of 2024?
NEXT (I see a world in which)
I see a world in which your ability to context switch will become one of your most valuable capabilities in a world where knowledge is at your fingertips. Context switching can be a mind-killer if not harnessed and trained like a muscle.
The Payoff
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." ~ Frank Herbert, Dune, 1965
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