This one MIT study estimates “95% of generative AI implementations in enterprise 'have no measurable impact on P&L” and you can pull up almost any business publication right now and see doom and gloom around AI deployments and AI in general.

Look, I hate to say it, but as Steve Jobs told people about the iPhone 4 during Antennagate, you are using it wrong!

So here are three ways companies are using AI wrong (and for the technical people out there, I am talking about GenAI/LLMs):

1 - They think AI is all about the data

I used to think this way, as that is how it worked with machine learning. With machine learning, whoever had the largest and cleanest data got the best results. GenAI can work that way if you are training your own models, but only a few of the largest companies in the world are doing that. Instead, most companies use one of the foundational models, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude, and do not do their own training. However, most companies still treat them as machine learning models, as if they are training them, and throw a ton of data at them, hoping to get better insights.

These models are getting better at handling these data loads with always-expanding context windows, but from my testing, a good “old-fashioned” machine learning model still outperforms LLMs when it comes to large data sets and getting predictive and prescriptive insights from them.

And here’s another thing people misunderstand: your company’s data isn’t automatically “better” than what the model already knows. These LLMs have been trained on large datasets, and if you think dumping your whole dataset in will magically change how the model behaves, it won’t. Unless you have truly unique, proprietary information, most of the value comes not from making the AI “smarter.” Instead, it comes from using the “smarts” already in the AI and allowing it to access limited sets of your data when it needs them to answer something proprietary. If you fight against the AI and what it already knows, you will lose every time.

It’s like business leaders think they can just upload a bunch of random data to the LLMs and ask any questions they want and get immediate, accurate answers, or a custom AI that is just for their company. Sure, LLMs might be okay with finding obscure data insights, but a lot of the time, they just get lost in the mounds of data, as they are not set up to “learn” that way. This is rapidly improving, but reinforcement learning is out of reach for most companies right now, so instead, use limited data sets or connect your AI with machine learning models for some data tasks.

I am sure that soon this won’t be the case, and we will be able to do reinforcement learning with proprietary data on established LLMs, but we aren’t there yet. To use AI effectively, think about what it already knows, refine and structure that with various agents, and then give it access to your data to find specific information it needs. Don’t go into it thinking you are going to make the LLM smarter with your data — you won’t. Well, unless you have access to a bunch of GPUs and cash to do your own training. But if that is you, you are not reading this.

2 - The AI is never good enough for them

It is funny: when making something with AI, sometimes you can get to 80% completion in minutes, and then it will take you days, weeks, or months to get it to 90%. And you could work on it forever and never get it to 100%.

You need to stop thinking about AI like a computer. Since computers were created, humans have come to expect 100% accuracy 100% of the time from them. They are binary and work that way, whereas AI works on a binary system to replicate non-binary human intelligence. Because of this, AI operates much more like a human, making connections with things and very rarely giving the exact same answer twice. Consider it a free spirit; it is designed not to be deterministic, and unless you really lock it down, it will, by nature, be a bit random.

You should start treating your AI projects similar to how you treat a new employee you are onboarding. With humans, you know an employee is never going to be 100% all the time and will make mistakes sometimes. Yet you let them do their thing while you work with them to optimize and improve as they go. When an employee makes a mistake, you don’t fire them immediately; you work with them to limit the mistakes and keep them within a margin of error everyone is happy with. We need to do the same thing when deploying AI projects. Realize that it will be a never-ending process of optimizations and improvements, testing new things, and that your AI solution will never be 100%. Find the error level you’re comfortable with and continue to refine it to reduce the errors to a place where you would be happy with an employee doing the same task.

3 - They are sabotaged by their team

I don’t think I have ever seen so much resistance to a new technology as I currently see to AI. As my friend Kevin O’Reilly told me the other day, people think AI is neither good nor accurate enough to work, yet at the same time, they believe it will take over the world and ruin humankind. Thinking both is odd, but that is a topic for another day.

That said, this resistance is real, and it is ruining AI solutions before they even have a chance to succeed. It is very similar to how people behave when they worry their job might be outsourced. Understandably, they get worried and find ways to slow or block the outsourcing. This is why many AI projects are moving incredibly slowly or are never deployed; internal team members are doing what they can to ensure this is the case.

There are only two things you can do in this situation. First, every company needs to train all its employees on how to use AI. Companies need to develop policies and procedures for AI, then monitor use and ensure every team member’s AI use is growing over time. If you are interested, hit up Samuel Melancon, and he can get your company moving down this path. The second thing you need to do is ensure your current team feels part of the AI future at your company from the start. Obviously, not many companies have native AI experts in-house, but you need to make sure you have key team members who buy into AI and want to be part of any project you are doing with outside consultants. This needs to be their time to learn and become AI experts as well, and to see it as an opportunity for growth. If you can’t find enough of these people, then you need to make sure you get the right people on the team who are excited to do this

What now?

First, don’t think AI is not going to impact your company or your job. It will. The timeline might not be months, but in the next few years, it will change everything we understand about business and work. If you or your company are not integrating and learning AI now, you will be passed by an AI-native company that delivers similar, if not better, solutions than yours at 20% of the cost.

Not every AI project is going to work, but don’t be scared to try a few. And if you go into it knowing what AI is good at and your team buys in, you will find more success than failure

The book What’s Wrong with Religion by Skye Jethani captures the downsides of religion well. This post isn’t about how I love Jesus but not religion; if you want to learn more about that, read Jethani’s very short book. This post is about how people who do not like religion don’t realize their religion is their politics. It is also about how people who say they are religious have let politics co-opt their faith.

I am writing this not to condemn those who have made politics a religion, but to encourage people to reflect on their beliefs and actions when it comes to politics. I am friends with and love people on all sides of the political and religious spectrums, and I am fearful that the path we are going down will make continuing those friendships almost impossible.

So, in an effort to tone down the fracturing in society, let’s look at the political and religious comparisons one by one.

Religion Divides

Many people hate religion because it divides and creates the idea that those who follow are a superior class. It presumes people in that religion have special or unique insights and are therefore “special” compared to those who don’t share the faith. This preys on insecurities and the human need to feel important, which can lead to looking down on others.

Is this not what has happened in politics, only worse? At least with religion, most of the time, there is a relatively clear plan to follow in order to live a good life and secure a good afterlife. Politicians rarely offer a cohesive plan. Most of the time, they say the other party is ruining everything and insist that if their opponents would just step aside, everything would be fine. It’s essentially a blame game with no real plan beyond saying what needs to be said to get elected. Politics today is like a struggling religion or cult that blames outsiders, the media, and the system for why it is failing.

And this applies to both parties. On the left, the correlation is more direct, as it involves a more secular party, but it is also happening on the right. The right has co-opted the Christian religion with a political affiliation to make people think they are one and the same. Instead of putting their faith in Christ and the Church to transform the world, they are trying to do it through their new political religion, reducing Christ to a chess piece used to achieve political ends. This is why you see voter registrations and altar calls happening at the same event.

Religion Drives Fear

Religion is great at motivating through fear; some say it is what drives all religions. Religions tell you that you will burn in hell, face judgment, have bad karma, be reborn in a lower state, or be cast out of society. They can drive people to believe they must use any means necessary to stop opposition, since it is for the greater good, even if it means forcing others into belief.

Politics is no different. Politicians and their followers use fear to convince people that if the other side is in power, the future is doomed, and life as we know it will end. They warn that the other side will come for your freedoms, hates you, and is relentlessly working against everything you believe. When this fear-based leadership persists long enough, both sides become consumed by the desire to destroy the other. At that point, it becomes less about living out beliefs and more about hating the opposition.

This kind of fear-driven leadership creates a society where people can justify almost anything for the greater good. If someone truly believes the world will be immeasurably harmed by their opponents, they may see blocking them from their life, or even resorting to violence, as justified. Puritans in Salem believed they had to execute their own neighbors to stop the devil from infiltrating their community. In strict Islamic regimes, religious police enforce behavior codes not to fight wars, but out of a fear that allowing personal freedoms will corrupt the moral fabric of the entire society. Protestants and Catholics fought in the Thirty Years’ War to stop the “wrong” type of Christianity. Religion has often driven people to set aside their core teachings in order to punish those who oppose them.

Religions Evangelize

Religions evangelize because they want everyone to join their special group, and they are rewarded for doing so. What good is a religion if it isn’t growing? And, as mentioned above, many justify using any means necessary because the end validates the effort.

Politics works the same way. People post on social media, hold signs on the road, put candidate flags on their cars, and display yard signs. (I find it funny that most religious people I know would never put a sign in their yard or a sticker on their car about their faith, but they are more than willing to do so for their political affiliation.) Of course, I understand the importance of voting, but it’s remarkable how little people recognize that this is simply evangelizing. And, most of the time, it’s about as effective as the guy yelling loudly that you are going to hell while you wait in line to enter an event. If you don’t get the reference, go to a major sporting event in Seattle.

Religion Uses Myths

For religions to gain traction and grow, they must simplify complex topics and answer deep questions. The world is complex and abstract, and no person can fully comprehend how it all works. Stories and myths are created to help communicate ideas and simplify reality. People want answers, and a religion without answers isn’t much of a religion.

Politicians do the same thing, though it doesn’t always look like myth. Instead, it shows up as headlines, sound bites, or out-of-context quotes used to show how one side is right and the other is wrong. Everything becomes black and white, with no room for the middle ground. You’re either with us or against us. Political leaders don’t want people to think for themselves; they want to control the narrative and keep followers inside a bubble of fear and hate.

The internet and social media have amplified this. People were not taught how to process unlimited information, reason through debates, or evaluate sources. Faced with endless input, many retreat to comfort. And what is more comfortable than picking news sources and social media feeds that confirm your viewpoint? These modern myths, spread as half-truths or outright lies, keep followers in line and discourage doubt.

Religion Means Not Questioning Leaders

In many religions, questioning leaders is seen as a weakness. This is how religion maintains power, by ensuring no one challenges its authority.

The same thing happens in politics. It doesn’t matter what politicians say or do; if they are a Democrat or Republican, their supporters feel compelled to defend them. To question leaders is to weaken the platform and risk letting the other side win. That’s why every major story has partisans rushing to get their side out first, ensuring followers know exactly what to think. If one side makes a good point, the other must immediately counter it so doubt never takes root.

Why Is This Happening?

For the non-religious, I believe one reason is that people want to be part of a community. Fifty-seven percent of Americans feel lonely, and that number increases the younger you are. This loneliness drives people to search for belonging and meaning. Since traditional religion has fallen out of favor, many have turned to the religion of politics.

For the religious, it’s similar but with a unique twist. For Christians, it is because they were used to having their values be mainstream in the United States, particularly during and after the Cold War, when it became Christianity versus communism. Since the 1970s, that dominance has eroded, and many feel at risk of losing majority influence. Republicans saw this and aligned their platform closely with Christianity, working hard to blur the line between being a Christian and being a Republican.

Why did Christians embrace this? When you’re losing majority status, you do what you can to cling to power. Many chose to overlook the Republican Party's downfalls as long as it protected their influence. This remains true today, perhaps more than ever. I’ve met Christians who can’t separate the Constitution from the Bible, who refuse to call out Republican leaders for actions they criticize Democrats for. Their Christianity has been replaced by a political faith disguised as religion.

What To Do

First, open your eyes to what is happening with politics becoming a religion. If you dislike religion, take an honest look at your behavior and ask if you have made politics your religion. If so, reflect on what you dislike about religion and make sure you don’t repeat those patterns with your politics. You can still have strong dedication and conviction in your beliefs, but if you fall into the religious traps above, you won’t help your cause.

If you consider yourself religious or a person of faith, think carefully about what comes first. You can’t really have two religions. You either follow one, or you've created a new one.

Second, go deeper than headlines and sound bites. Study both sides of the issues without assuming the other side is evil. Remember, most people are not evil. That idea is often a tool religion has used to spread fear.

Third, remember the true reason you are passionate about politics. You care because you want what’s best for this country. And you must realize the other side feels the same way. We may disagree on how to get there or what “best” looks like, but very few people actually want to bring harm. You may believe their ideas will cause harm, but that is not the reason they promote them. Treating them as evil won’t change minds or lead to progress.

Let’s Avoid a Religious War

I am not trying to get you to change your beliefs. I want people to consider their actions and recognize that treating politics like a religion will have serious consequences. It will cost friendships and family relationships, and it could even lead to a split in our country that escalates into more political violence, moving us from a religious cold war into an outright war.

Disclaimer: No matter what you believe, whether you hate the above or love it, I will always respect you and your beliefs. I also know you will never see things exactly the way I do, and that’s what I probably like most about you. Feel free to question my thoughts and beliefs, to say I don’t get it, to tell me I’m wrong. But please, allow me to connect with you over coffee, a beer, or even online, so I can understand your viewpoint and concerns. That’s what I think is great about our society: we can all believe different things, and in those differences, we can become stronger.

The world is divided, and it is impacting your business. Employers are fighting for control in a push to increase productivity and efficiency, while employees are disengaged, often going through the motions. At best, leaders get a short burst of effort before employees burn out, move on, or retreat back into disengagement.

This divide isn’t new, but the pandemic accelerated it. Working from home gave employees a taste of freedom and balance, and many realized that work alone no longer gave them meaning. Because of this disconnect with their careers, productivity dipped, innovation stalled, and in response, employers doubled down by calling people back to the office, reviving Jack Welch–style rank-and-yank schemes, and hoping control would solve disengagement. It hasn’t.

Meanwhile, AI is reshaping the landscape. Employers see it as another lever to drive efficiency and put pressure on employees to be more productive. Employees feel this pressure, and it only increases the divide and further stagnates growth. Yet AI also exposes the need for a new approach: if technology can take care of tasks, leaders must take care of people.

So how do you create a company where employees consistently innovate, deliver beyond their job descriptions, and drive performance? With all respect to Simon Sinek and Jim Collins, it takes more than a corporate “why.” And while Gary Hamel and Brian Robertson’s structural empowerment experiments are important, they have proven too slow and unsustainable for today’s pace.

What is needed now is a new model of leadership — Empowered Leadership — one that bridges the divide by combining purpose with empowerment. Leaders must not only cast vision and lead by example, but also help employees cultivate their own sense of purpose, even when that purpose extends beyond the company’s mission. The goal is not to have employees act like robots, blindly following orders, nor to create a cult-like leader who has employees burn out in their service. Instead, it is to empower people to be great while they are with your company and, if they move on to pursue their own vision, to leave as advocates for your brand because of the way you invested in them.

This approach creates a virtuous cycle. Employees give back more because the company is giving to them. Companies that adopt Empowered Leadership do not just retain talent; they become magnets for it. That advantage compounds: better people drive more innovation and higher productivity, far beyond what traditional command-and-control leadership can achieve. As Marcus Buckingham’s research shows, when employees fall even partially in love with their work (no one will ever love your company as much as you do), productivity and creativity rise dramatically. Leaders who invest in employees’ growth, both aligned and unaligned with company goals, unlock performance today and build a reputation that attracts the very best tomorrow.

We can no longer lead top down. We can no longer lead bottom up. We must now lead through Empowered Leadership, where leaders inspire and employees are empowered to inspire themselves and others, inside and outside of work. This is the path to bridging the divide, fueling innovation, and unlocking productivity in the AI era.

I’m always distracted. Some people think that this is my greatest flaw, but I sorta love it.

I love learning about everything; every topic, every pattern, every system, as it helps me make sense of the world. Finding reason and order in chaos brings me energy.

I’ve never really thought about how I do it until I heard Lance Priebe talk about the US Air Force’s OODA loop process. The OODA loop is an acronym for observe, orient, decide, and act. This is something I have done with almost every input I have ever had, and it has driven me in marketing and data to gaming, startups, and even racing cars. However, instead of focusing on just a few relevant data sources to determine an appropriate action, I use my graph of knowledge across many different things to decide on the appropriate action needed.

Maybe it’s my dyslexia, perhaps it’s ADHD. But finding patterns in chaos and understanding how to apply those to improve has been the key to any success I have had. This has been good for me through the years, from the tech boom to the internet bubble, social media, to now the AI revolution, as I have been able to stay at the leading edge and predict change.

Lately, though, doing this has been more of a challenge. The number of inputs, the speed of change, and noise are at an all-time high, and it’s all accelerating. I still observe. I still orient. But deciding and especially acting have proven difficult. There are just too many options, and even putting together a picture of what the next 6 months could hold is proving difficult. I find myself with hundreds of ideas and very little reasoned-out plans or thoughts.

So that’s why I’m starting Always Distracted.

It’s a space for me to slow down, to make sense of what I’m seeing, and ideally to turn observation into action. Each post will capture what my brain is graphing together, what I believe it means, and hopefully what I plan to do about it. My goal is simple: to transform distraction into direction.

With this channel, I will focus on four themes that I feel are networked together.

• Community: How tribalism could kill us

• Education: Why don’t we teach people how to think?

• Leadership: How real leadership is a two-way street.

• Tech & AI: What might the future look like?

• Hope: Without hope, nothing is possible.

I’ll probably veer off course (the name’s a warning), but my goal is to help myself find clarify in the chaos. This project is mostly for me, but I hope it helps you gather your thoughts, too.

I would love to learn with all of you, for you to push back when you feel I am wrong, and to help push me to act when you think I am right. Only by actively discussing things together can we really get to a clear understanding of anything.

So here goes getting back into content creation a bit, if nothing else, it will calm this Always Distracted mind.

P.S. I used AI to help refine this, but it’s still basically my brain dump. I’m also using it to break things into shorter versions for LinkedIn, X, and other platforms. Those might be better for anyone with a distracted mind like mine.