johnmaconline chain logo johnmaconline / The250
Daily one-pagers about AI, leadership, technology, and being human.

johnmaconline

I'm writing to think, learn, and remember in public. I'll be here everyday.

September 3, 2026 1 minute read

Should AI Run the Human Resources Department?

AIHumanLeadership

AI is already running a lot of HR departments.

HR departments use AI helpers for the following areas:

  • Recruiting — job description creation, candidate screening, etc — 99% of hiring companies surveyed use AI in their hiring process in some way.
  • Performance appraisal and ranking — Half of those surveyed use AI tools for daily performance management, morale gauging, ranking, and feedback generation.
  • Compensation — salaries, benefits, etc — Over 40% of those surveyed use AI tools for compensation and benefits ranking and management.

Some of the reported benefits:

  • Productivity/efficiency of the HR team
  • Navigation of complex systems
  • Compensation equity
  • Bias reduction
  • Cuts costs

That’s good, right?

AI helps all of us knowledge workers. You should be using it (correctly).

HR has “human” in its name. Humans work. Humans lead. Humans decide.

Let’s be sure to keep the humans at the center of the HR department.

September 2, 2026 1 minute read

The Guy In My Machine

AIHumanTechnology

Whether ChatGPT, Claude, or whatever AI-assistant you maybe using, do you think of it as an actual person in your computer?

I do. Sort of.

Clearly, there is no little man in my machine. I know this both intellectually and emotionally. However, it helps me to think as if there is.

It helps me in two ways:

  1. The LLM “is like” a human in that it “understands” what I say, and how I say it. It helps me be better at giving specific instructions.
  2. The Agent can control my computer, has access to the internet, and can try things like me. Thinking of it like a person helps me be better at thinking about myriad solutions to the problem rather than just a specific set of instructions for a solution that I’ve devised already.

The guy in my computer is a mental model. Not a real one.

Maybe it’s creepy. Maybe it’s childish. But it certainly helps me.

September 1, 2026 1 minute read

Making your Own Butter

HumanThe250

Do you make your own butter?

Of course not. Or, not likely, at least.

Why would you? It takes about 20 minutes of vigorous physical activity. You need heavy cream, and the quality of that cream matters a lot for the final product. Sometimes, it doesn’t actually work. You get to the 15 or 20-minute mark and find it was all for nothing. Gotta start again with new ingredients.

And if it works, does it taste better? Or does it taste better enough that the whole thing was worth it? Was it cheaper? What was the actual advantage?

If you’re at the grocery store (or convenience store, or even many gas stations), you can simply walk to the dairy aisle, and for a few dollars, you can choose any style of butter your heart fancies: salted, no salt, Irish, European, Amish, cheap, less cheap.

Quick, easy, cheap, and you get exactly what you want.

Why would you make your own butter?

Because life requires participation. More participation, more better (and in this case, more butter).

Sometimes you should make your own butter.

August 31, 2026 1 minute read

Real Clickbait

HumanLeadershipThe250

We scoff at obvious clickbait. We’re above it. We’re not susceptible.

Each of us is susceptible. To something.

That’s the real clickbait.

August 30, 2026 2 minute read

Feedback Loop

HumanLeadershipThe250

I know from building stuff that other people use for over 30 years that the feedback loop is the most important part of the building process.

It’s also the most important part of the people process.

Whether you’re managing, working beside, or leading others, the feedback loop often makes or breaks the project.

We’re all different. We all have preferred methods for taking feedback, even if we aren’t explicitly aware.

As the provider of feedback, what you say matters. But when and how you say it also matters. Probably more so. The most effective feedback is tailored to the receptor, not the provider.

The feedback loop provides an opportunity. The opportunity can be:

  • the chance to show you’re in charge
  • the chance to amplify ideas
  • the chance to put someone in their place
  • the chance to build others up
  • the chance to “my way or the highway”
  • the chance to win the argument
  • the chance to improve the outcome
  • the chance to demonstrate your expertise
  • the chance to develop someone else’s
  • the chance to shut an idea down
  • the chance to make an idea better
  • the chance to protect your ego
  • the chance to build trust
  • the chance to coach
  • the chance to serve
  • the chance to teach
  • the chance to learn
  • the chance to make the next iteration better

What will you do with the feedback loop?

August 29, 2026 1 minute read

Backing Off

AIThe250

I often find that my main problem right now is that I’m trying to do too much.

This is a direct result of having an army of AI agents at my disposal, an unlimited token budget, and a million ideas. A million “I want to get done…”

It’s 8:40 in the morning as I write this. I’ve already been working for almost 2 hours. I’m fried. Not in the sense that I feel tired, or can’t concentrate, or am at the end of my ability to think. I’m fried in the sense that I can’t keep track of all agents running my ToDo list items.

I keep asking each one, “Now, what were you doing?”

Yes, I’m out over my skis. I know I have to pull it back.

But also, for people with ideas, AI is a superpower.

The magic is knowing when and how to back off.

August 28, 2026 1 minute read

How You Treat Your AI

AIHumanTechnology

I admit that I’ve done it.

I’ve been frustrated with the AI and have treated it poorly. I’ve mocked it, told it was dumb, and cursed at it.

It doesn’t help.

What does help is correction, redirection, better inputs, a different method of explanation, and teaching it.

Just like people.

Treat your AI well.

August 27, 2026 2 minute read

Life as a Mid-50s Rush Fan

HumanThe250

I already shared how my life as a 13-year old Rush fan started.

That was over 40 years ago.

My brother and I went to see them last night. It was magical. Yeah, Geddy can’t get up there anymore, but still sounds like Geddy. The production was cool. The mix and the set list amazing (Moving Pictures start to finish). And they can still play and command the stage.

Neil’s gone, but not forgotten. Anika Niles was great, nailed it, and they clearly liked playing with her. But still…

This was number 5 for me, but the last time I saw them was 1994, so that was 32 years ago. Exactly the difference between my fourth and fifth Metallica shows.

It’s nostalgia, but also new memories. The arena was filled with grey hair, but then you’d find pockets of multi-generation fans. Dads with adult sons or nephews.

It’s the past, but also today. Continuity.

Like all nostalgia, a little sad for what’s behind and no longer in front, but the feeling is still there, and it’s amplified. Accessible through the swipe of a playlist.

Ah, those were the days.

Life as a mid-50s Rush fan is still great.

August 26, 2026 1 minute read

Cardboard Availability Bias

HumanThe250

We just moved our youngest into an apartment, and it left us with a mountain of cardboard. The Amazon truck shows up at our house almost every day. More cardboard. The global economy causes more shipments around the world. More cardboard.

We have to use more cardboard now than we did 30 years ago, right?

Here are the facts:

U.S. corrugated-box shipments were about 373 billion square feet in 1995 and 374 billion square feet in 2025. Unchanged.

Doesn’t feel that way, though, does it?

That’s availability bias.

“Availability bias is our tendency to judge how common or likely something is based on how easily examples of it come to mind.”

We see mountains of cardboard in and around our apartments and houses, so we assume we’re using more cardboard.

Just the facts, ma’am.

August 25, 2026 1 minute read

Status Theater

HumanLeadershipThe250

Status meetings and reports are a time-honored tradition in the corporate world.

Useful and effective status reports and meetings consider two important topics:

  1. Who’s in the room (or reading it)?
  2. What’s the real status?

Who’s in the room directs the content. What do they care about and why? The CEO doesn’t likely care about how many lines of code your team wrote last week, but they probably care about whether you hit the release date.

What’s the real status gives them the information they need. Accurate. Good stuff, but also the bad stuff.

It’s that second one that the reporters get hung up on. Because of the first one.

If you’re the one in the room who’s consuming the status, consider your attitude, the way you communicate, and the way you make the status reporters feel.

If you don’t, all you’re getting is status theater.

Pin It on Pinterest