Can't give you a map, but here is a compass

A perfect podcast listen for a Monday--or any time when you might feel a little frazzled, When to Quit--Lessons from World-Class Entrepreneurs, Investors, Authors, and More. This episode from the Tim Ferriss show reads (or listens) more like a panel discussion from 7 or so perspectives. My favorites include Debbie Millman and Seth Godin.

The blog title is how Seth Godin describes his powerful work as a permission marketer and author of numerous best-selling books. There exists a tension between digging in with both heels and throwing in the towel. How do you know when you are hiking through muck only to be rewarded by a beautiful vista or meadow around the bend? Or when it is muck, has been muck, and will always be muck?

Nobody can answer that question for you--only you can decide to continue to show up, challenge the status quo and follow your passion. But I like hearing from others that have been where we all sit from time to time. I try to articulate something similar to individuals seeking mentorship. Many seem to want a recipe or a step by step guide. Entrepreneurship is more like cooking a casserole and less like baking. Precision is needed in making a soufflé but a few bad bits will be forgiven in your casserole when you add more of the crowd pleasers--think more bacon.

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This weekend the hubs and I walked down to our local library. I peruse the new non-fiction section from time to time, looking to see what I can find. We are Data: Algorithms and Making of Our Digital Selves by John Cheney-Lippold was an unexpected little treasure.

Two things came to mind. Even if you aren't writing in a digital environment with any regularity you are generating huge amounts of data. So much so that Google has created a profile of who you are. Don't believe me? Go to www.google.com/ads/preferences. They may have your age and or gender wrong but your purchasing category is all that matters to the algorithm. I am flattered that my age range is 10 years younger--and yes, I am still female.

The question is posed. If you are generating data, and nobody is around to "see" it, did it happen? Timely conundrum for me--I tend not to follow the analytics around the commoditization of writing or thought leadership unless I notice an aberration. LinkedIn is one metric that continues to obfuscate. I will never understand posts that render close to 10,000 reads while others top out around 20. I would argue I am at once not that particularly interesting as well as not that dull. So what gives? I smell an algorithm.

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I am still reading the book. Algorithms fascinate me and so does the obsession around AI and machine learning. 
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In the absence of human oversight AI will simply learn the noise in our data. How do we grasp more oversight of our data-selves? I will keep you posted...

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