The one sentence summary

In a world of increasing Artificial Intelligence, curiosity and creativity can give people the human edge.

WHAT THE BOOK SAYS

  • Some headlines suggest that, with the advance of AI, machines will take our jobs, but actually it is the skills that make us the most human that will help us sidestep digital distraction and succeed. They are:
  • Consciousness: finding focus, motivation and courage to make an impact. The elements are Seek (find motivational meaning) and Focus (direct your creative energy).
  • Curiosity: gathering the right knowledge, experience and insights to ask game-changing questions. You need to Learn (faster than the world is changing), and Question (everything, to ignite your curiosity).
  • Creativity: sparking the cognitive fuel gathered in the first two Cs to ignite transformational ideas. Energise (acquire the creative habit to make inspiration more likely) and Spark (borrow the secrets of creative superstars).
  • Collaboration: unleashing these ideas through feedback, cooperation and experimentation with others. Connect (build a network of collaborators), and Experiment (test your ideas to destruction or greatness).
  • There many types of curiosity: Diversive (seeking stimulation to escape boredom), Knowledge (impulse to learn more), Specific (a particular piece of knowledge), Perceptual (real world physical impressions).
  • Looking across different fields leads to remote association – drawing from one area into another.
  • Thinkering is a combination of thinking and tinkering.
  • Try to validate your ideas by writing your own press release. You’ll soon find out if it holds water.

WHAT’S GOOD ABOUT IT

  • The challenge is to become a more human human, distinguish ourselves from what AI and robotic humans can do, and recapture the power of our imagination.
  • Skills are always context specific. Those above can work, whereas people who are chronically distracted, inflexible, uncollaborative, and only able to work with routine are unlikely to succeed.
  • ANI (Artificial Narrow Intelligence) works well on specific tasks but does little else. People worry most about AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) where machines become as intelligent as humans, or ASI (Artificial Super Intelligence) where computers become more intelligent than us and start making their own decisions. In truth though, we will probably end up in the missing middle, where AI and humans complement each other.
  • “Your success is not a proxy for how busy you are.” Bill Gates
  • “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Leonardo da Vinci
  • “Politeness is the poison of collaboration.” Edwin Land

WHAT YOU HAVE TO WATCH

  • There are two elements (called Dance Steps) under each of the four areas, leading to 12 components. The contents don’t label these clearly, so you have to keep working out where you are.