How not to lose your job to AI
About half of people are worried they’ll lose their job to AI.1 And they’re right to be concerned: AI can now complete real-world coding tasks on GitHub, generate photorealistic video, drive a taxi more safely than humans, and do accurate medical diagnosis.2 And over the next five years, it’s set to continue to improve rapidly. Eventually, mass automation and falling wages are a real possibility.
^ADJ: Article identifies skills that are likely to increase in value - how good would you rate yourself?
Nick Bloom: A summary of the Hybrid Experiment
Four managerial lessons:
1) Hybrid needs a strong performance management system so managers don’t need to hover over employees at their desks to check their progress. Trip.com had an extensive performance review process every six months.
2) Coordinate in-office days at the team or company level. Schedule clarity prevents the frustration of coming to an empty office only to participate in Zoom calls. Trip.com coordinated WFH on Wednesday and Friday.
3) Having leadership buy-in is critical (as with most management practices). Trip.com’s CEO and C-suite all support the hybrid policy.
4) A/B test new policies (as well as products) if possible. Often new policies turn out to be unexpectedly profitable. Trip.com made millions of dollars more profits from hybrid by cutting expensive turnover.
^ADJ: Item number #1 "strong performance management system" is so often overlooked!!
The Skills and Habits Aspiring CEOs Need to Build
Today’s CEOs have a fresh set of challenges that the standard management playbook is ill-equipped to address. As a result, many are heading for the exit. And executive recruiters report that fewer people are interested in, or ready to, replace them. Are we at an inflection point in what future CEOs need to be successful? Is enough being done to equip up-and-coming CEOs to navigate these evolving dynamics? How can companies ensure future leaders are prepared to make tough decisions in chaotic times, and lead diverse, tech-first, and global workforces. Three experts share their views.
^ADJ: I love this "A skill that aspiring leaders must master right now is the ability to size up problems with a sense of proportion"
Breaking down the infinite workday
To unlock AI’s full potential, we need to clear a key barrier. A follow-up to the 2025 Work Trend Index.
Can Claude run a small shop? (And why does that matter?)
We let Claude manage an automated store in our office as a small business for about a month. We learned a lot from how close it was to success—and the curious ways that it failed—about the plausible, strange, not-too-distant future in which AI models are autonomously running things in the real economy.
^ADJ: Some great insights into how AI models work in real life
Japan and the Birth of Modern Shipbuilding
Japan and the Birth of Modern Shipbuilding, but it starts with at the height of the war the US was producing nearly 90% of the world’s ships. By the 1950s, it produced just over 2% - what happened?