essays – Consulting

Ask Me

I was at a conference last week, where I was a presenter for a couple of sessions. Since I had attended that conference several times before, I volunteered to be an “ambassador” to help first-time attendees feel welcome.

They gave Ambassadors the bright yellow “Ask Me” buttons to identify us.

I love answering questions, even if it’s just “where is the Milam room?” It makes me feel good to be able to help, even in a small way.

Mentors often serve the same purpose, by being there to support you in working through specific issues or to just give advice on more general topics.

Doesn’t it bring you peace when you can get your questions easily answered?

I think that’s the appeal of AI and Google. (Does anyone remember “Ask Jeeves” before that search engine got overrun?)

Google was a huge step up from getting answers from books or knowledgeable people. It created almost instantaneous access to billions of pieces of information.

👉 The trick, of course, is determining which of those pieces actually answers the question you’re asking.

AI, in all its iterations, is another giant leap forward.

It’s not just more information or faster answers. It’s along the lines of having an intern or personal assistant who can take that information and put it into a useful format that cuts your time down dramatically.

There can be a danger in relying too much on others for answers, though.

We might lose the ability (or willingness) to investigate and dig deeper if the product we get is quick and “good enough” to move forward.

I’ve learned from Shana Burg that AI is more of a “helper” that I can utilize to make my work easier. It doesn’t take away my creativity; it gives me a jump start and helps me focus.

She showed me that if I create a custom chatbot that learns from my knowledge-base and the way I communicate, it can actually serve as a “hired hand” that I can rely on for help.

I’m not sure we’ll ever get to the point where we’ll easily find the answer to “what is the purpose of life?”

But I love trying to find answers for other questions – from people, from books, from computers. I’ll take all the help I can get.

What questions do you have? Where do you turn for answers?

Is there something I can answer for you?

Ask me. I am happy to help.