The last mile is not the end ... it's the beginning
As I sat with this entry / story / post / whatever, I spent (wasted, really) significant chunks of time trying to craft a perfectly worded opening.
“Perfection” is knowing and committing to what you want to say. And indeed I knew. But for a host of reasons — none any good — I resisted committing.
Enough time wasting.
We humans need to start over.
Finally.
We are a decision-making, discovery loving species. Two world building human traits that created AI. Now … if we can create something as life-changing and impressive as that … then why can’t we “use that” to start over?
By “use AI to start over,” I don’t mean its nano-second solutions of wondrous wizardry. And besides, we’re already using that incredible stuff all the time anyway — knowingly or not — so that wouldn’t be the “let’s start over” that the Humanaivolution is seeking.
What I’m suggesting — okay proposing — is let’s use the one thing AI gives us that we are not yet taking full advantage of — its presence.
That’s right … its presence — as mythical and huge as you imagine it to be … as I watch it casually step over skyscrapers and carry on down the street (without crushing cars).
The simple fact that it’s here and doing what it’s doing (a lot) should be enough for us to say, all right, what else can we do with it? Let’s surprise ourselves with some unique ideas (and don’t ask ChatGPT for help!) That can’t be too difficult — can it?
I’ve worked in corporations where long meetings were held discussing the success of a single project. Ultimately the leaders only wanted to know one thing: What else can we do with this success? “Give us more. We need bigger, more imaginative ideas!”
And so it begins
Where do I propose we start over? In the one place I’ve always been most interested in — a place called human communications. And yes, it’s a place — a vital place that serves, among other useful things, our survival.
When we’re most communicatively engaged — to one human or many — we are emotionally entrenched. The here and now energy of feet touching the ground, feeling it. I’m here, in this place, listening and trusting that I can contribute. It’s a great feeling. We’ve all had it. An emotionally secure place, with fabulous rhythm and chemistry … a capital ‘S’, Scene. We love a good Scene! And it only takes one to get us connected.
How was your meeting? Oh, it was good … especially this one thing ….
I’ll get back to my obsession passion for Scenes as you read on.
Backtracking slightly.
A couple of decades ago, someone wise here in Asia said to me: “Communications starts wars and ends wars.”
My first reaction was, well if we just communicate better our problems are solved, no?
No. (Which landed us in a lively ‘what does “better” even mean debate’).
Two decades on, I am revisiting the emotional location of the past rejection and bringing with me the full weight of my current thoughts and ideas of something “better.”
And that is …
Let’s have our problems respond to our communications … versus our communications respond to our problems.
What’s the difference? Fair question.
The second option is what we’re used to doing. We respond to “issues” — it’s our daily routine … varying in size, complexity, priority, monetary value, levels of boredom and so on.
What I’m creating is a communications place that reimagines and rediscovers what can happen to issues and problems that arrive (burst through the door) in our everyday lives. Who should be the first to react: the problem or the human?
The Scenes that we move in and out of in our 24-hour life cycles are full of discoveries and surprises. In other words, useful human stimuli that stops us in our tracks — sometimes even for longer than a few seconds (as incredible as I know that sounds in the screen swiping age).
Useful human stimuli … hmmm … (lift thumb from screen). We know it and we want more of it. It’s high time our Scenes served solutions that make “problems respond” to the great Scenes we’ve set.
To get there, let’s start by how we’ve always started (rigorously tested for over 2500 years — give or take a few centuries and Ancient Greek philosophers): by using our human decision-making abilities to generate some new discoveries.
Humanaivolution. Humans re-evolving and rethinking our use of AI.
AI’s presence is definitely useful human stimuli. Our attention is drawn when the presence of something meaningful is felt. It puts us in that place. Here and now energy of an attention-grabbing Scene.
The presence of a health issue inspired me to stop ignoring it and figure out what I needed to do to create a better environment for preventing (potentially) bigger issues. I entered this “new place” and started having better communications with not only myself, but others who, as I discovered, were concerned about the same things. And so the communications expanded; we could share our stories with those who could relate. “Relate to participate” as I like to say.
The presence of a smaller, aggressive competitor got a client to stop ignoring their (long ignored) marketing flaws before the smaller competitor became a larger force. (Good decision as it turned out.) We worked on their human communications to establish a better place inside (and outside) the firm. The humans employed there are happier now (and thus more productive) and the business is moving along nicely with a much healthier awareness of not only the competitor, but the concept of “place” and the Scenes they set inside that place — their place.
Own your Scenes … the living, breathing spaces that consume our days and respond to our actions. Set new Scenes and you’ll set new responses. That is human communications at its tried and true best.
A revolutionary presence?
Oxford Languages (Google’s dictionary) defines revolution as: a dramatic and wide-reaching change in the way something works or is organized or in people's ideas about it.
The Humanaivolution revolution is a human communications revolution. A “wide-reaching change in the way something works — or in our ideas about it.” Thank you, Oxford Languages.
So where does it start? The revolutionary re-evolution starts in the place called the Last Mile. (Click to see my last post where I introduced this.)
The last mile is not the end … it’s the beginning.
We are known for being territorial beings who do battle for the ground we want to conquer, claim, keep or boast about. It doesn’t end with the (attempted) redrawing of maps, though; what about the corporate battles for the corner offices, the parks wanted for condos, the houses wanted when relationships end? (And so on.)
I’ve been very fortunate to experience the inner workings of corporations (and some governments) across numerous continents and industries — both as employee and consultant — and met many intelligent, hard-working, dedicated humans along the way. We sat in meeting rooms with inspiring names like Mars, Manhattan, Mona Lisa, and Mystery (a personal favourite for its Scene-setting swiftness and “Scooby-Doo” Mystery Machine inspiration). (I want to go in there, thanks!). And yes, all rooms (especially the motivating Mystery Machine) were equipped to welcome our curious Zoom visitors from other planets.
Scooby Doo — (C) Warner Bros Animation
The Humanaivolution inside the expanding last mile
How do we get there … there, over there … this place where human communications can flourish and thrive?
Paraphrasing the poet Robert Frost “the only way out is through” — [the last mile].
Here are some additions to that inspiringly visual phrase.
The last as the first. Calling the first mile the last mile, prepares us for the future in important ways. It demonstrates that our communication needs proper long-term mapping. To expand the territory, we have to start with a well-organized first territory.
A last mile merger. Merging AI with humans is the M&A deal we have never seen before. Two very different “cultures.” We acquired (indeed created) AI, and we are absorbing it into the firm. AI is learning how to behave in the company. So how are we learning to behave with AI? Is AI inspiring — and creating — better human bonds? (What does ChatGPT say about that?)
Can we trust our new colleagues? Developing the guidelines of AI trust and accountability is standard practice across the enterprise now. What do guidelines actually mean in the AI age? While the enterprise is publishing its guidelines, AI is learning its own. For now, we are capable of fixing the errors and dealing with the hallucinations filtering into the humansphere.
And let us not forget this “concern” that we can do nothing about. Don’t get emotional! Too late, I already am! Thankfully so.
As AI infiltrates our world, our feelings are being stirred ever faster. Can my AI colleague and I collaborate equitably in shared goal setting, or will a power imbalance tip the scales away from my human participation? And what does working together even look like?
I have never met two communicators exactly alike. 8 billion people on the planet and we are alone out there. Compare that to our AI cousins where individuality takes on very different meaning. 8 billion individuals vs. ONE that wants to influence the 8 billion. This will require some proper planning.
Last mile architecture: making room for our new colleagues
If companies are sincere about human influence (and I believe they are) – “our company is only as good as our people” (remember that one?) – then my proposal, my quest to “start over,” begins when we start establishing the language of the last mile in the human organization.
Experiencing what happens when you introduce a new language into companies wanting new results, is something I witnessed while introducing the language of professional storytelling in the corporation. We know we are all selling stories. How can our firm tell (and sell) those stories using a story-solving language all can easily understand?
I started off by asking companies what they wanted their story to solve. I then went further and asked, “what can your story say to help solve it? ” And off we went discovering solutions … one Scene at a time.
It was an inclusive, actionable approach to story-led communications. Bring in ideas from different teams across the firm. The results were immediate – and often surprising (and surprises we want … the building blocks of great places to be).
Two storytelling fundamentals we must never lose sight of:
1. The definition of storytelling is problem-solving.
Every company is in the storytelling business because every company is in the problem-solving business.
2. A story is made up of Scenes … one Scene at a time.
When a story breaks down it’s because a Scene has broken down. It’s crucial we get our Scenes right.
Experimenting with Scenes is what filmmakers and artists and photographers and musicians and DJs (and daydreamers) do as a standard part of their craft. I took that inspiration – especially the daydreaming – (after making some short films many years ago – here's one in Thai with subtitles) and put a name to it in 2014: SceneThinking
The last mile conversations I was having with my clients became Scene-solving strategies. Get at the heart of the problem-solving value through story … one Scene at a time.
We started from a basic definition of last mile communications: “the distance between company strategy and end-user decision-making.”
After a decade of creative experimentation and testing, we have moved on from this narrow, almost entirely revenue-seeking definition, to a broader, distinctive “place of meaning” and Scene-solving.
Make no mistake, last mile human communications still has revenue goals – and always will (how else do we stay employed — helping others succeed and survive and reaching their goals?), but those goals are just better planned, organized, executed and humanly motivated.
Human communications is at its best when it has places to discover.
Discovery is in our DNA. We need the prospects of discovery to keep us inspired (planning your next vacation around new discoveries?) It is central to our species – which is probably why we made our AI cousins so discovery hungry too … as they forage through our Scenes and secret places (Hey! Don’t go in there!) demanding more.
In the Humanaivolution, the last mile, like SceneThinking, is wide-open for discovery. It is a great place for our Scene world to expand.
Stories move one Scene at a time. With each Scene we extract problem-solving value … and so the story (potentially) grows. The last mile expands like a Scene. Living, breathing Scenes … our greatest communications asset! Manage your Scenes well. Let it be a place – inside your corporation or SME or one-person place of business – where problems respond to the presence of discovery-inspired humans and their discovery-inspired communications.
The language of the last mile. Universal fluency
Using the language of the storytelling approach, I propose that companies start asking:
“What does our last mile say about this idea?” [Insert that idea here.]
Entrenching the last mile in company culture begins when we include the last mile in our strategic decision-making — just as we include storytelling in our strategic communications.
The language is similar:
“How will this [strategy] impact the growth and development of our last mile — where decisions on collaboration and discovery are going to be made?”
Translated into story language: How will this Scene impact the growth and development of our story – where decisions on collaboration and discovery are going to be made?
Bringing story strategy into the language of the last mile establishes a clear acknowledgement of what’s at stake: this cannot be an AI vs. Humans office environment.
Going beyond the last mile will happen as the story of AI and human collaboration grows. As new business models emerge, the last mile will get crowded — a good thing.
If the language of the last mile is entrenched in company culture — confidently telling the stories that need to be told — there is always going to be room for growth.
The last mile … without the physical constraints
Emotionally we humans need a “collaboration regeneration.”
When the pandemic separated us into virtual worlds (at home in our pajamas), it created a belief that virtual could forever be a viable communications solution. Getting people back to the office (full time at least, and without pajamas) has proven challenging.
If a hybrid model is the answer — and it could very well be for some companies — we need to inject a new sense of communications ownership into what our new hybrid world could look like.
At the office or at home (or wherever), the last mile is “neutral” territory that emotionally follows us wherever we go.
We humans are all participants in the last mile. We have that emotional ownership. Our collaboration matters.
Last mile human communications creates the “emotionally physical space” without the physical space limitations.
It puts us in the Scene.
And Scenes follow us everywhere.
Consciously or unconsciously, we are moving in and out of Scenes all day every day.
Scenes supply the energy to a powerful communications eco-system that humans rely on to work, raise a family, socialize, educate. The value of human Scene and story energy is truly immeasurable … and I think about this often as trillions of dollars are forecasted to be needed to run the data centres that will power AI Scenes to extract data from our human Scenes. Trillions needed so AI doesn’t plateau or stall. We humans haven’t plateaued … though yes, we do occasionally stall.
Collaboration starts inside Scenes. It cues our thinking, motivates our ideas, inspires our connections.
Scenes create an “emotional cooperative.”
The last mile is forever home to Scenes. The place to share, shape and deliver great human-driven communications.
Scenes are everything to a story. Put me in the Scene. Put me in the Humanaivolution story.
Wisdom begins in wonder. Aristotle
What can companies do right now to develop last mile human communications?
Set clear vision and objectives for how you want the humans in the firm to communicate with the AI in the firm.
Invest in your Scenes. Time, money, people, energy. The Scene eco-system, where story value lives and breathes … and thrives.
Create your own “language of the last mile.”
Humans have a role to play. The last mile is our first mile in this the Age of AI.
Welcome to the Humanaivolution … a place for last mile human communications.
Many thanks for the comments, thoughts and messages to my inaugural post — my Substack launch.
My question to you is this: how close do you think we are to a Humanaivolution?
What do we need to begin?
What does a Humanaivolution look like to you and your company? How do you imagine it?
Until next time … happy SceneThinking!