I see a trend of brilliant founders/operators, who excel at what they do, not being able to (of course), see the whole operation and what is missing, in a clear and opportune way.
As I've revived my consulting career, now that AI is here, I've been able to expand my capacities quite a bit. Each time, I didn't know what was possible, until I worked with AI to produce the result.
The fun outcome is that I get to offer much more to people I want to help. As I've ventured back into this arena, some things have become apparent that before I could not see.
I see a trend of brilliant founders/operators, who excel at what they do, not being able to (of course), see the whole operation and what is missing, in a clear and opportune way.
I've stepped into that role, using AI to help me map and survey large areas, and distinguish what is not being addressed that would reasonably pay off well to do so. This has been enormously empowering, as I tentatively begin to draw assumptions and then become increasingly confident as I have more questions answered.
This rhythmic step, between tentative ideas and increasingly solid plans, has certainly required the deployment of much of the intellectual capabilities I posses, and I can easily see how often this could go wrong without the human layer, checking and updating the AI’s understanding of the entity and its environment, what really matters to it, etc. It's comforting to see!
In trying to distill what it is I actually can offer to potential clients, another feature of the current space (of consulting and the like), has slowly crystallised in my mind.
At bottom, I seem to be on a hunt for the truth of a situation — a business and its activities, say. It's really important I capture as close to the totality of relevant data that I can — and then it's the surveying of this ground, much of the ground, that seems to form a process where the most important pieces of the puzzle emerge on their own.
Mapping these processes visually has become incredibly helpful, to see the spots on the map that are crying out for attention, to see moving dynamic flows and processes that are blocked, or over-serviced, etc. It's fun! 'Consulting’ (still hesitant to use that term, I think ‘investigator’ works better!) Has become a much more enjoyable activity.
Is it this hunt for the truth that makes it so? It sure seems like it to me! It's the 'aha!' moments that I do it for! And it's truly satisfying to be of service in this way — in a much more open field.
An important part of helping in this way certainly seems to be a capacity to go in whichever direction the data call for, and I've been open to that — constructing systems, switching from marketing to operations quite fluidly, etc. I even built an app, something I had no idea was possible at that time.
So — investigative consulting, or something like that, seems to be the space I'm operating in. I have a deep desire to survey all relevant information, spot bottlenecks, problems and opportunities, and then rigorously test my position — only moving forward when I'm very confident I'm on the right track.
I of course see much of what I love about philosophy mirrored here — and in some ways the work I'm doing feels like a philosophy paper enacted. I get to be rigorous, well-researched and aware, to be investigative (I'm sure there’s a better term for this), and to arrive at highly criticised conclusions, testing my own thinking but of course the AI’s reasoning as well. It is fun, it is like a second brain, and the actual spread of what can be considered is marvellous.
These are just some early thoughts as I try to deduce what it is I am doing here, and how to represent it in the world.
