If They Shine, You Shine

Kamala Harris, reflecting on her early days as Vice President, wrote:
“Their thinking was zero-sum: If she’s shining, he’s dimmed… None of them grasped that if I did well, he did well.”

That line captures a pattern I’ve seen across industries. Leaders invite younger colleagues into the room—fresh energy, sharper skills, new perspectives. They call it collaboration.

But when that talent delivers, the dynamic shifts. Clarity, competence, or courage show up, and suddenly the “invitation” curdles into rivalry. The person meant to validate a leader’s judgment gets recast as a rival. What follows is predictable: withdrawal, sabotage, self-preservation over stewardship.

AI, Adaptability, and the Stories We Tell Ourselves

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing how we work, make decisions, and define success. But when AI or any new technology suggests something unexpected, how do you react? The answer is shaped more by your experiences than the technology itself and more to do with your Data Biography — the sum of your experiences, reactions, and assumptions about data that shape how you engage with new innovations. By understanding your data biography, you can improve your adaptability, enhance decision-making, and ensure you control new technologies — rather than letting them control you.

AI, Marriage, and the Systems We Build: Why We Shouldn’t Be Surprised By High Failure Rates

What do AI investments and marriage have in common? A lot more than you'd think.

Recently, while walking past Las Vegas wedding chapels, I was struck by how we’re encouraged to leap into marriage—despite a 76% chance of it leading to dissatisfaction or divorce. If that were your odds of getting hit by a bowling ball, you’d wear a helmet, right?

Yet, we treat AI investments the same way: chasing transformation, pouring money into the latest technology, and ignoring the evidence that most implementations fail. Some studies suggest that over 80% of AI projects never reach deployment or meaningful ROI—but companies keep making the same mistakes.

The real issue? The systems we build produce the results we deserve. Just as societal expectations drive people toward marriage, hype, pressure, and poor planning drive businesses into AI investments that are doomed from the start.

So what if we designed AI strategies with the same scrutiny we should apply to marriage? The results might surprise you.