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.

October 31, 2026 2 minute read

Both Ends of the AI Candle

A standard candle has two ends, of course.

One end is for burning, and the other connects it to the earth. We have an idiom about using that connection end for burning.

AI gives us two levels at which we can burn both ends of that candle.

The first is us.

For people with ideas, or maybe just under pressure, AI makes it easy to burn both ends. Just get another agent running. Open another tab. More ideas. More instructions. More.

It’ll happen if you let it. The franticicity. There’s a reason why we, as humans, need one end of that candle firmly connected to the earth.

The second is AI itself.

Can AI get frantic? Can it work too hard?

I’ve seen it get confused. I’ve seen it cross paths and step on other agents doing work for me. I’ve seen it get into the death spiral. But that’s more of a me problem than an it problem. Poor instructions and expectations. That looks a lot like a standard management problem. People and agents both respond to better management.

There’s also the token budget. AI runs out of tokens. Burning both ends means more tokens, which means budget overflow faster. That’s generically a money problem. More money fixes it.

Then there are the big picture concerns. Power. Water. Noise. Real estate. The more we have AI burn both ends, the more we need and get of each of these. These are the “should we?” questions that rightfully are front and center in our culture right now.

I think AI can get frantic and work too hard also, but maybe not in the same way we can.

I’m starting to think burning both ends eventually burns us, even with AI.

October 30, 2026 1 minute read

It Helps if You Know Stuff

AI Leadership The250

In most professional settings, truth and facts matter.

It’s OK to say “I don’t know” and follow it up with “I’ll find out” or “I’ll verify with Jim” or some phrase that indicates you’ll get the answer. Those are the right things to say if you’re on the hook, or you’re putting yourself on the hook. You want to be on the hook.

But it helps if you already know the answer.

Professionals know stuff.

AI doesn’t change that.

October 29, 2026 1 minute read

Be Careful With Your Customers’ Trust

Human Leadership The250

I got tricked. Sort of.

I had a subscription that I’ve been trying to cancel, and I thought I had. But alas, I just got the email indicating that this month’s purchase is on its way. I immediately sent an email (no phone number or even an AI chatbot). They replied with “sorry, the order is too far along to recall it now. You may send it back with this return code and a 15% restocking fee.”

Alright, you got me. This time.

The Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA) requires businesses selling online through automatic renewal to:

Provide “simple mechanisms” to stop recurring charges.

That last phrase is the actual language. ROSCA doesn’t prescribe a required maximum number of clicks or method of visibility, but like art, you know it when you see it.

I’m sure someone could walk me through exactly how to cancel my subscription and why they meet the intent of this statute.

But c’mon. I’m annoyed.

You got me. This time.

Was it worth it?

October 28, 2026 1 minute read

AI Sucks at Customer Relations

AI Human Technology

“Yes, you’re right, my mistake.”
“I apologize. I missed that.”
“That’s a great idea! Much better than what I was thinking.”

I’ve received each of these as feedback from my AI sessions in the last couple of days. The AI being sycophantic, or at least, trying its hand at the human art of telling me what I want to hear.

It’s bullshit.

And bullshit isn’t good customer relations.

Good customer relations starts with making the customer feel heard. AI is a bit more like, “You’re right. Whatever you just said, you’re right.”

Which makes me wonder whether it heard me at all.

Sometimes I’m wrong. Sometimes my idea isn’t great. Sometimes I’ve misunderstood or missed something. If every correction I offer gets an apology and every suggestion gets applause, I have to do the work of figuring out whether either is actually correct. And most times, when working with AI, correct is what I’m after.

Customer relations is worth being human over.

October 27, 2026 1 minute read

The Code is Not the Product

AI Technology The250

It never really was.

Although we treated it as such. The code. The code is the thing. The code is the most important.

But what is the code?

It’s the means to the end. It’s the material. It’s the scaffolding on which a product is built.

It’s the wood in a house frame. It’s metal in your car. The quality is important, of course. Bad wood or bad metal isn’t gonna hold up. It won’t make a good house or car.

The code matters, but it’s not the thing.

AI has put the code in its place.

October 26, 2026 2 minute read

Baadar-Meinhof Phenomenon Meets the Curse of Knowledge

AI Human Technology

The Baadar-Meinof Phenomenon is “a cognitive bias in which a person notices a specific concept, word, or product more frequently after recently becoming aware of it.”

Remember when you were in the market for a particular car and then, almost all of a sudden, you started seeing them everywhere?

Yeah, it’s that.

It’s a combination of selective attention and confirmation bias.

The Curse of Knowledge happens when “you are an expert or know how to do something, so you assume everyone does also.”

Maybe you’ve heard yourself say, “Just open the settings and change it,” and you get a blank stare in return.

It’s that.

It’s a cognitive bias that comes from devaluing your own understanding of how something works or the procedure needed to do it. It’s basically a perspective problem. “From my perspective, this is easy. Why can’t you see it?”

Consider AI today.

AI seems like it’s everywhere, and if you’ve spent any time with it, it sure seems easy to use.

But when you talk to people, you realize that although most people are aware of AI, they’re not that affected by it, nor do they really know how to use it effectively.

A lot of the conversation about AI happens among people who already spend a lot of time thinking about AI. Like myself. I easily forget how much background we’re bringing to the conversation.

Then we wonder why everyone else doesn’t see what we see.

AI is a technology. Yes, it has, and will continue to, affect the world.

But it’s not the end of the world.

October 25, 2026 2 minute read

The AI Canyon

AI Human Technology

Have you ever stood at the edge of a canyon?

Some are sprawling and seem a little shallow. Probably because of their breadth. Some are narrow and look unendingly deep. Can’t see the bottom.

I’ve been a shallow and wide guy for most of my career.

I like breadth. I like knowing about a lot of different things. I like to see how the pieces fit together. It’s often served me well as a systems engineer, startup founder, and manager of disparate teams.

I’ve also been deep and narrow on many specific topics. I’m currently deep and narrow on using AI to do the work.

However, I think my natural tendency is towards shallow and wide.

Almost paradoxically, going deep and narrow on how to use AI to do work plays right into my natural tendency towards shallow and wide. Why do one thing when I can do ten things?

I’ll tell you why.

Because you still need deep and narrow. Deep and narrow pays dividends for the work. Craftsmanship. Attention to detail. Smooth edges. Expertise.

These matter to the recipients, and they matter to me/you, the one doing the work.

I find myself in a fight with myself. Do I cave to my natural tendencies? Just one more tab. Do I resist and try to go deeper and narrower on one thing?

I think the answer is both, and the magic will be knowing where to draw the line.

The AI canyon is both wide and deep.

October 23, 2026 1 minute read

It’s OK to Ask It

AI Technology The250

When you have a lot going on, you can’t always keep it straight.

I’ve been using these questions with my agents a lot lately.

“What have you been doing?”
“What is your status?”
“What’s next?”
“What do you need from me?”
“Are you waiting for anything?”
“When will you finish?”
“Is anything stuck?”

It’s ok to just ask it.

October 22, 2026 1 minute read

Dejargoning

AI Human Technology

Have you ever been talking to someone and had to ask them to explain it again, more simply?

AI writes a lot of words.

Word after word. It thinks more is better. Who doesn’t like a good word salad?

Not only does it write more words, but it loves to use jargon. Now, some jargon can be useful. Using technical terms in context with a knowledgeable audience can communicate perfectly and succinctly. Unfortunately, AI loves to use jargon that isn’t quite correct. It’s close, but the word itself or the context doesn’t make sense.

Jargon, especially jargon that isn’t quite correct, also confuses, distracts, and makes it less understandable. So you gotta edit.

After AI writes something for me, I use this prompt:

“Dejargon this and write it again. Use simple and direct language.”

Just like with people, sometimes you gotta ask the AI to explain it again, more simply.

johnmaconline

Both Ends of the AI Candle

Like this:

It Helps if You Know Stuff

Like this:

Be Careful With Your Customers’ Trust

Like this:

AI Sucks at Customer Relations

Like this:

The Code is Not the Product

Like this:

Baadar-Meinhof Phenomenon Meets the Curse of Knowledge

Like this:

The AI Canyon

Like this:

It’s OK to Ask It

Like this:

Dejargoning

Like this:

Pin It on Pinterest

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Pin It on Pinterest