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Daily one-pagers about AI, leadership, technology, and being human.

johnmaconline

I'm writing to think, learn, and remember in public. I'll be here everyday.

August 29, 2026 1 minute read

Backing Off

AIThe250

I often find that my main problem right now is that I’m trying to do too much.

This is a direct result of having an army of AI agents at my disposal, an unlimited token budget, and a million ideas. A million “I want to get done…”

It’s 8:40 in the morning as I write this. I’ve already been working for almost 2 hours. I’m fried. Not in the sense that I feel tired, or can’t concentrate, or am at the end of my ability to think. I’m fried in the sense that I can’t keep track of all agents running my ToDo list items.

I keep asking each one, “Now, what were you doing?”

Yes, I’m out over my skis. I know I have to pull it back.

But also, for people with ideas, AI is a superpower.

The magic is knowing when and how to back off.

August 28, 2026 1 minute read

How You Treat Your AI

AIHumanTechnology

I admit that I’ve done it.

I’ve been frustrated with the AI and have treated it poorly. I’ve mocked it, told it was dumb, and cursed at it.

It doesn’t help.

What does help is correction, redirection, better inputs, a different method of explanation, and teaching it.

Just like people.

Treat your AI well.

August 27, 2026 2 minute read

Life as a Mid-50s Rush Fan

HumanThe250

I already shared how my life as a 13-year old Rush fan started.

That was over 40 years ago.

My brother and I went to see them last night. It was magical. Yeah, Geddy can’t get up there anymore, but still sounds like Geddy. The production was cool. The mix and the set list amazing (Moving Pictures start to finish). And they can still play and command the stage.

Neil’s gone, but not forgotten. Anika Niles was great, nailed it, and they clearly liked playing with her. But still…

This was number 5 for me, but the last time I saw them was 1994, so that was 32 years ago. Exactly the difference between my fourth and fifth Metallica shows.

It’s nostalgia, but also new memories. The arena was filled with grey hair, but then you’d find pockets of multi-generation fans. Dads with adult sons or nephews.

It’s the past, but also today. Continuity.

Like all nostalgia, a little sad for what’s behind and no longer in front, but the feeling is still there, and it’s amplified. Accessible through the swipe of a playlist.

Ah, those were the days.

Life as a mid-50s Rush fan is still great.

August 26, 2026 1 minute read

Cardboard Availability Bias

HumanThe250

We just moved our youngest into an apartment, and it left us with a mountain of cardboard. The Amazon truck shows up at our house almost every day. More cardboard. The global economy causes more shipments around the world. More cardboard.

We have to use more cardboard now than we did 30 years ago, right?

Here are the facts:

U.S. corrugated-box shipments were about 373 billion square feet in 1995 and 374 billion square feet in 2025. Unchanged.

Doesn’t feel that way, though, does it?

That’s availability bias.

“Availability bias is our tendency to judge how common or likely something is based on how easily examples of it come to mind.”

We see mountains of cardboard in and around our apartments and houses, so we assume we’re using more cardboard.

Just the facts, ma’am.

August 25, 2026 1 minute read

Status Theater

HumanLeadershipThe250

Status meetings and reports are a time-honored tradition in the corporate world.

Useful and effective status reports and meetings consider two important topics:

  1. Who’s in the room (or reading it)?
  2. What’s the real status?

Who’s in the room directs the content. What do they care about and why? The CEO doesn’t likely care about how many lines of code your team wrote last week, but they probably care about whether you hit the release date.

What’s the real status gives them the information they need. Accurate. Good stuff, but also the bad stuff.

It’s that second one that the reporters get hung up on. Because of the first one.

If you’re the one in the room who’s consuming the status, consider your attitude, the way you communicate, and the way you make the status reporters feel.

If you don’t, all you’re getting is status theater.

August 24, 2026 1 minute read

Your Digital Twin

AIHumanTechnology

Did you ever wish you could clone yourself?

It’s here.

Well, it’s here in a very techy, specific way. I suspect it’s not too far away for non-tech people.

Your digital twin is an AI-readable (and human-readable) collective of all of your knowledge (called a knowledge graph). It’s a capture of you, how you think, and what you’ve done.

Once you build this, an AI agent can effectively stand in as you. At least for communication and some level of creation. If you want to dive into this here’s a place and a tool to start.

How will you use your digital twin?

August 23, 2026 1 minute read

Unchecked

AIHumanLeadership

I admit it.

Sometimes I’ve let stuff go out that I haven’t checked. I’ve trusted others to ensure that it meets our standards.

It’s risky, and I’ve been bitten. That’s my fault.

AI ramps up that temptation to leave it unchecked. First, you can generate so much that it’s hard to check it all. Second, it can check itself (if you tell it to). Third, sometimes its so good that you almost forget that it makes mistakes.

Leaving AI unchecked is no different than leaving anything else unchecked.

August 22, 2026 1 minute read

Your Ground

HumanLeadershipThe250

You’re the expert on your ground.

You can stand on it. You can expand it. You can clean it. You can trim it back. You change its color, how it looks, and how it feels.

You own your ground.

With ownership comes responsibility. You can grab it, or you can shirk it.

Your choice.

August 21, 2026 1 minute read

Unless you Say Yes

HumanLeadershipThe250

Saying “No” is important.

It takes discipline. It takes prioritization. It takes self-awareness.

Saying “No” might be the hardest thing for some people to do.

But what about you?

Because saying “No” can also be a crutch. The “get out of jail free” card. The ready-made excuse not to try. The easy-button to stay confined to your box. Once you learn how to say “No,” it might actually be the problem. You might like it a little too much.

Unless you say “Yes” to something, you’ll never know.

August 20, 2026 2 minute read

Does AI Know Who You Are?

AITechnologyThe250

50 years ago, it was “Do you have a listing in the yellow pages?”

The basic listing with your name, address, and phone number was free. Your clients could pick up the book and search for you. To make sure they’d find you, you could pay to upgrade your listing with enhancements, placement, and advertising.

The internet put the Yellow Pages out of business. Rather, Google put the Yellow Pages out of business. Because then it became, “Do you have a web page?” Your clients could Google search for you. To make sure they’d find you, you could pay Google to upgrade your listing with enhancements, placement, and advertising.

I think the question is about to change again. I think it’s gonna be, “Does AI know who you are?”

Your clients are asking AI:

“Who can help me with this?”
“What product should I use?”
“Who knows how to solve this problem?”

And AI will give them an answer.

So what’s the new Yellow Pages listing? What’s the new web page? And what do you need to do to make sure AI knows you exist?

When you ask AI itself this, it provides the following:

That means the future version of “being listed” may not be about owning a webpage. It may be about making your business legible to AI: clearly stating what you do, who you help, where you operate, what problems you solve, what your products are, and why someone should trust you.

I don’t yet know how we do that, but I think we’re about to find out.

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