I hung out with a former team mate last night. She would tell you that she’s not skilled at improvisation, but she is. What makes her skilled? She’s good at mirroring the energy of her conversation counterpart. It’s almost as if she becomes that energy. How does that help develop generativeness?If you say you’re not a writer, then you’re not. But if you effectively mimic the habits and practices of writers, you’ll be a writer. Writers read - if you want to write, read. If you say you’re not a musician, then you’re not. But if you effectively mimic the habits and practices of musicians, you’ll be one. Pianists practice scales - you’ll need to practice scales to play piano.You can copy and paste that template for any profession. Once you begin mirroring the habits and practices of a thing, you’ll start thinking like that thing. Once you start thinking like that thing, you’ll start generating ideas as that thing.

I play background music for a resort in the area often. My purpose is not to be the entertainment; I’m providing a soundtrack upon which people get enjoy their lives. Because my purpose is not to show, I must play quietly.Playing quietly does not mean I play less intensely. In fact, playing quietly requires more intensity and focus to not allow myself to become so relaxed that I become sloppy. I often leave gigs where I play quietly more tired than the ones where I’m rocking out. Just because something is quiet does not mean it lacks energy.Potential energy is still energy.

Lawyers practice law. Doctors practice medicine. Musicians practice music. You and I have a practice. We do something each day to help us get better at the thing we’re supposed to do — our work, our art. As my college piano professors would tell you: it’s not what you practice, it’s how. Remembering a post from 2022.

I wonder if managing expectations is a hard skill. Thoughts on why it might be:You are committing yourself to create an output that aligns with an expectation.Commitments create risks — people might not like our outputs.Not everyone likes risks.Here’s the the opposite end thought. By not managing expectations:You are not committing yourself to create an output, therefore no expectation.Because no expectation, people may or may not like what you produce when you produce it. You end up having to deal with the disappointment at the end versus the beginning.Wouldn’t it be easier to get the hard part over with first? Perhaps that’s why it’s hard.

Thermodynamic systems seek equilibrium in the amount of heat allowed in the system. As more heat enters, the system outputs excess heat thereby achieving balance . Every new bit of knowledge I get is like a marginal unit of heat entering the thermodynamic system that is my life. The drive to seek equilibrium by applying what I’m learning and experiencing more of the world is high. I become anxious operating at the margin. I read, I think, I write, and my mind simply wants to go off and see the things I read about. I want to make something or collect an experience that would allow me to bring my system into an equilibrium. Writing this post to you helps — I imagine you’ve been in a similar situation before. Taking a walk helps. Making food from scratch — that helps. Breathing and realizing that the time I have right now is the time that matters. I can’t have my cake and eat it. I can’t experience and do all of the things my brain would like to do. No. I can only do what I can at this present moment — and what all I can do is write and share.

I’m stuck. What is the value of music? Yes, when music is created live it dies within seconds of its production. I play a note on the piano, and the note decays. I play chords on the piano, the sound decays. The life of sound is short. Yes, when music is streamed or played back, it dies with the click of a button. I can push pause or stop any time I want. Yes, music is easily created. Artificial intelligence creates music easily. Spotify’s CEO says the cost is “close to zero.” Memories are important to us. They help us retell the story of ourselves and our communities. These stories are important because it’s how culture is created and reinforced. Our memories also fail us, and therefore our stories lose their fidelity and robustness; the bonds that keep the culture together loosen and our groups fall apart. Music is like a key that when put into the lock that is our personal (or collective) memory, we can retell the stories of who we are and why we are.If that’s true, then is it possible the value of music is the value of our stories. And if our stories help us communicate who we are, then it must be impossible to calculate the value of music. Perhaps musicians can ask, “how valuable are the memories you hope to create?”

Ethan Mollick is as Professor of Innovation and Business at Wharton. He also wrote a book — “Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI.” He also writes the One Useful Thing blog.Ethan predicts that AI will displace the low value and repetitive tasks of workers. It may replace higher income or knowledge work. It also may free up human capital to be more productive on higher value stream tasks. Ted Gioia is a culture and music critic. He maintains The Honest Broker blog. Ted argues that the rise of AI has led Spotify to develop and push AI-created music, that our culture is stagnating as producers are overusing the same formulaic approach to popular music, and that there has not been any truly original and new music created lately. We’re regressing to music that is from our past. “The rapid rise of AI is actually the most profound evidence yet of cultural stagnation.”My thoughts: If AI is to make a splash in the workforce, then aggressively learn and care about AI.If our culture is to evolve, we need to create and ship work. If we are to keep creating and shipping work, we need to keep being curious.

Imagine if there was a soundtrack that accompanied your day. When I play piano, I imagine I’m adding to the sound track of someone’s life. This Stravinsky piece was the soundtrack I needed for my trip from Chicago to Milwaukee. 9pm, rainy, I’m one of a few people in the quiet car. Head sets with noise canceling on. Here I am thinking about what to say to you. I almost imagine myself with a type writer in some turn-of-the-centruy Parisian flat. Cafe below. What’s your soundtrack?