This is a “what matters is what matters” newsletter.

What if you just abandon the front door entirely and find another way?

Here are three, quick ways to spot AI bullshit in the wild.

Is this just another hype cycle you can ignore until it dies off? Maybe. But our sense is that this one’s gonna be different.

How do you check power that’s not-presently-checked?

We hear this from individual contributors, and we hear it from team leads and line managers, and we hear it from Directors and VPs, too.

Even as we’re setting up something ambitious, we can often spot the things lurking in the shadows that are going to get in the way.

If your org is on your seventh layoff or Lord-have-mercy, your 82nd re-org, we suggest that it’s time to take a hard look at your underlying planning issues.

The real test for an org is not whether you ever bet wrong. The question is, when the results start to come in, what do you do now?

We’re still in the early days, this is still mostly anecdotes, but the anecdotes are multiplying fast. And they’re haunting.

The opportunities that anyone could take, but no one is taking.

Is this what it means to work with a vendor these days?