Beta Tester Life · Ideas from the engine room
Practical thinking for work, technology and change.
Notes on AI adoption, leadership, learning, culture and the human side of making change actually work.
Written by Kevin Campbell
Thirty years of technology, delivery and organisational change.
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The latest thinking
Fresh observations, tested ideas and useful frameworks for people working through complexity.
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Generative AI Customer Insights: What AI Can and Can’t Do
Read the article →: Generative AI Customer Insights: What AI Can and Can’t DoGenAI can help organisations find and synthesise existing customer research. It cannot repair weak evidence or replace the analysis that creates trustworthy insight.
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Continue reading →: Difference Isn’t the Landmine. Justification Is.
Difference Isn’t the Landmine. Justification Is.
Difference doesn’t damage teams. The story you build afterwards to justify your reaction to it does — the reframe worth taking from All…
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Continue reading →: Seeing the Full Story Isn’t a Data Problem. It’s an Empathy Problem.
Seeing the Full Story Isn’t a Data Problem. It’s an Empathy Problem.
More data rarely tells you who you’re not reaching. Empathy and humility do — and they’re the precondition for the ladder of inference,…
Explore by theme
Follow the questions that matter
Different subjects, one shared concern: how people and organisations respond when the ground moves beneath them.
More from the notebook
Latest articles
Thoughtful, practical and occasionally uncomfortable.
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Read →: Token Spend Is Not a Cost to Cut. It Is a Portfolio to Manage.
Token Spend Is Not a Cost to Cut. It Is a Portfolio to Manage.
Cutting the AI bill misses the point. The organisations getting value from AI treat token spend…
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Read →: Not Everyone Needs to Learn Everything
Not Everyone Needs to Learn Everything
Not everyone needs the same depth of technical knowledge. A practical framework for deciding who needs…
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Read →: The Argument Isn’t About Facts. It’s About the Ladder.
The Argument Isn’t About Facts. It’s About the Ladder.
Two people can sit through the same meeting and walk out with completely different conclusions —…
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Read →: Self-Awareness Is Not Introspection. It Is System Monitoring.
Self-Awareness Is Not Introspection. It Is System Monitoring.
Self-awareness is often sold as a private act: sit quietly, look inward, know yourself. That is…
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Read →: The Learning Triage: How to Decide What to Learn Next
The Learning Triage: How to Decide What to Learn Next
You will never be current again — a four-question triage for deciding what deserves your finite…
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Read →: The AI Creative Process: Why AI Should Enter Twice
The AI Creative Process: Why AI Should Enter Twice
The best AI Creative Process partnership with AI is not constant collaboration: use it to widen…
The point of view
Technology is never just technical.
Systems succeed or fail through people: what they notice, what they reward, what they avoid and what they are willing to learn.
Experience before theory
Ideas are most useful when they have survived contact with real work.
People before process
Good systems make human judgement easier; they do not pretend to replace it.
Clear thinking over easy answers
Complexity deserves honest questions, careful distinctions and room to change our minds.
Have a question worth thinking through?
If something here connects with a challenge you are facing, I would be glad to hear about it.