Perspective

The Customer Service Disaster

Customer service used to be just that – service: A helpful voice at the other end of a swift phone call. That’s long gone. Helpful became dreadful. For the last 10-20 years, customer service has become something to avoid at almost all cost. Because life’s too short – for the wait and the annoyance. Which makes the following question interesting: What happens when you suddenly meet real customer service?

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Quit Pseudowork – Work on Things That Matter

“Work on Things That Matter” is a quote from a keynote speech by Tim O’Reilly some 15 years ago. It stuck. So simple, direct and obvious, yet so easily forgotten. What if we make this our motto every day?

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Your Medical Data May Kill You

Your medical records need protection. Not from spies, hackers and nosy neighbors but from bureaucrats, politicians and all kinds of ‘data protection agencies’. They don’t care about you. They care about themselves. They have ‘bullshit jobs’ to protect – and may kill you in the process. You’ve heard, read or seen…

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Is ‘Going all Electric’ Killing the Planet?

Going all electric – in a hurry – is the solution to our climate challenge, according to both experts and pundits. It sounds reasonable, the goal and the arguments are convincing. They also ignore reality. The climate challenge is not just about energy.

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The Ultimate Source of Clean Energy: You

A seemingly universal consensus: The world needs more energy. And it has to be clean. Fossil is out, renewable is in – etc. etc. etc. You know the drill – it’s everywhere, all day. What if it’s wrong? The metrics, the goals, the premise?

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“Tech will save us…” – Really?

We’ve heard it for years. From climate change deniers in particular and from politicians, business people and (almost) everyone else. While denying reality, many claim tech will fix it anyway. Wishful thinking indeed, but the premise is correct. Tech won’t fix it, but tech may actually save us.

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The AI Crash

My previous post, AI’s notorious lack of intelligence, raised quite a few eyebrows – judging from the (inspiring) feedback. The distance between hype and reality is huge, the misunderstandings and disappointments plentiful while big money seems to be pouring in from salivating investors. What are we missing?

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Is War Good for Business?

War is obviously good for some businesses. But is it good for society? ‘Of course not’ is most likely your immediate response. And certainly mine. But not so fast. It’s complicated …

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The as-a-Service Economy

photo © ipopba/Adobe Stock

We’ve been in it for quite some time. But do we realize how much it has changed us? And how different it turned out compared to expectations?

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Why Spotify Wins

photo © jaiz anuar/adobe stock

I was upset. Joe Rogan was promoting dangerous lies and Spotify was supporting him. So I broke it off. To send a message. Inspired by Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and many other artists I highly respect. It didn’t last–and the reason is interesting.

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