Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Was my book or speech or seminar replaced by Wikipedia and ChatGPT? Time for me to learn.

Was my book replaced by Wikipedia, i.e., each section of my book can be read or the reader can just go read a few Wikipedia pages?

Is my book redundant to Wikipedia? The same can be asked with all these chattering bots like ChatGPT.

Can a person just ask the chattering bot, “How does earned value management work?” or “What are the key concepts of Agile Development or MBSE or DevSecOps or ice cream?”

The book needs to be something more. Facts are everywhere.

I was at a noted writing seminar years ago. The leader of the seminar, who had written some forty or fifty non-fiction books many of which sold quite well, told someone, “Learn how to punctuate dialogue.” The accomplished writer did teach the new writer dialogue punctuation. There were already a thousand-and-one sources that covered those facts. Just facts. Not worth a new lecture.

Not writing a book or giving a seminar? “Just” managing work and leading people? Same thing. No need to call a meeting and talk for an hour on how to punctuate dialogue or make ice cream. Establish the need and point to a source. Facts.

Let’s use the resources already at hand. Let’s do better.