Output is everywhere. Perspective is rare.
Hello again!
The world is producing output at a pace none of us have seen before. What I keep coming back to is what that means for something no tool can produce: a perspective that is uniquely yours.
May Reflections: When good output isn't enough
When I was at university (which I'll admit was at the end of last century), writing a paper felt like an enormous task. Getting ideas out of my head and into something coherent took days. Sometimes I'd procrastinate until hours before a deadline, still staring at a blank screen, trying to coax a single poignant sentence into existence.
Today, I can stream-of-consciousness my ideas into a chat box and get a structured draft in seconds. That hurdle is gone. And for a lot of situations, that's genuinely useful.
The first draft is no longer the heavy lift. Now the real work is making it truly yours.
Recently, a team I was working with received a request: draft a short narrative describing the purpose and benefits of a new project. Someone reached for AI immediately. Within minutes, there was a draft with clean sentences and a reasonable structure.
When I read it, something was missing. None of the critical questions had been asked. What is the one message we want the reader to take away? Why does this project matter specifically for this company, in this context, right now? What is the real value being created here, for us?
Those answers live inside the organization, with the people who understand what's actually at stake. The draft looked like a narrative, but it could have been about any similar project, at any company.
What was missing wasn't effort or capability. It was the perspective that only comes from being inside the situation.
The work is less about producing something from scratch, and more about shaping, refining, and standing behind what gets produced.
Your unique perspective is built from the way you read a situation, the connections you make that aren't obvious, and the position you're willing to take and actually defend. This is what makes your work truly yours. That's what lands with others. That's what builds the kind of trust that compounds over time. That's what drives change across organizations.
Full transparency
I'll be honest: I brainstormed this newsletter with ChatGPT.
It didn't come out like this on the first try. We spent most of the time shaping the idea, getting clear on what I actually wanted to say and how I wanted it to sound. It generated a draft. Then I rewrote most of it.
The draft wasn't bad. The thinking and the nuance are the work. If I'd taken the first version, this would have sounded fine. It just wouldn't have said anything that mattered.
ChatGPT cleared the blank screen hurdle. What you're reading now is mine.
Try This
The next time you're ready to share something important (a message, a presentation, a proposal), you don’t have to shy away from using AI support. What matters is that you pause before you hit send.
Ask yourself:
What does the reader need to understand that only I can tell them?
What is the one thought in here that is genuinely mine?
What valuable insight am I sharing?
If it isn't immediately clear, take a few minutes to rewrite your core message until it is. That's where your perspective starts to come through. Over time, this is what others recognize and come to trust.
Is this something you're navigating in your own work?
We'd love to hear where you're seeing this play out.
What's Next?
What's Next
Keeping the human skills of the future front of mind is at the heart of what we build at the Novaspex Academy. That is why our next cohorts of Decision Making and Big Picture Thinking are now open for registration.
Decision Making starts August 25th.
Big Picture Thinking starts September 23rd.
Both are designed to build the kind of foundational thinking that makes your work more distinctly yours, and more valuable over time. We'd love to have you join.
We're also developing something new: a pilot focused on communication, including ways to make your unique thinking land with others. We'll share more when it's ready.
Your perspective is worth taking the time to develop. There is no one else who sees things quite the way you do.
All the best,
Amanda
on behalf of The Novaspex Academy Team