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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.

May 18, 2026 1 minute read

Your Passive Voice

HumanLeadershipThe250

In writing, passive voice is a sentence in which the subject receives the action rather than performing it.

“The dog bit the man” is active.
“The man was bitten by the dog” is passive.

Pro writers learn to write with active voice early on because the passive voice makes writing less clear and generally less interesting. Non-pro writers use passive voice everywhere because it’s kind of natural. But it’s one of the tells of an amateur vs. a pro.

But what about in your life? Are you receiving the action or are you taking it?

Are you using your active voice?

May 17, 2026 1 minute read

Kill Your Darlings

HumanLeadershipTechnology

In the 2000’s into the 2010s, Apple did the unthinkable.

They cannibalized their own massively successful product’s market share with a new product. They killed the iPod with the iPhone. MBA’s and executive leadership would have told them it was stupid.

But then again, contrast that with Kodak, which followed the academic advice. They didn’t commercialize their own technology for digital cameras precisely because they knew it would cannibalize their cash cow — film.

We know where this all ended up.

Yeah, that’s one example, and there are plenty of counterexamples, but there’s a lesson here for you and me.

Don’t be afraid to kill your darlings.

Your beliefs. Your workflows. Your homegrown tools. Your sure-fire solutions. Your mega-hits.

Even the ones that served you well.

Time moves on, as does knowledge, as do abilities, as do teams.

You should move on also.

May 16, 2026 2 minute read

The Rug Pull

HumanLeadershipThe250

Unlike the shifting sands, the rug pull requires immediate action.

You’ve got nowhere to stand. Now you’re falling.

The rug pull happens in an instant. No forewarning. No spidey-sense tingling. Just, “Here. Now it’s all different. Figure it out.”

The first thing you do is take a breath. Big in. Hold it for a beat. Big out. Hold there for a beat. Do it again.

Now look around.

See the things you didn’t right before the rug pulled. Some stuff starts to materialize. Huh, didn’t see that before.

You see a few handholds that could break the fall. A few branches sticking out. Maybe a rock outcropping. Test them. Can you reach them? If you do, will they actually work? If one works, is it actually where you want to end up?

Then look down.

If you keep falling, where will you land? Maybe that’s a good place. But with a clear head, you can also look for other potential landing zones. That one over there looks promising. Actually, that one over there looks like it might be even better than where you were before they pulled the rug.

Can you get there from here?

After the rug-pull shock wears off a bit, you realize your job, as always, is to adapt.

How will you adapt?

May 15, 2026 3 minute read

The Junior Worker Dilemma

AIHumanTechnology

I’m pretty darn good at getting what I want out of AI.

Why is that?

A good portion of it is because I’ve spent the last 3 1/2 years in deep with it. At first, like an 8-year-old with a new toy, I dove in. Then, once I was in, I realized this is indeed the future of knowledge work, so the professional in me took over. I realized that either I needed to get AI working for me, or I’d be working for AI.

That part of my AI skill set can be copied by anyone, regardless of experience level or age. Have a plan, dive in, and get good at it. That’s how professionals operate.

However, I’m also an experienced software engineer.

I started writing code at age 8. Almost 50 years ago.

That part of my skill set cannot be copied by just anybody, regardless of experience level or age. I can tell AI which direction to go and what the goals are because I’ve been there and done that. I have an idea of what this should look like at the end.

Also, I can tell when it’s going in the wrong direction. I can tell when it’s making stuff that might work, but won’t be robust, maintainable, or scale. I can tell when it’s hardcoding stuff that should be configurable. I can tell when it’s using resources it shouldn’t. I can tell when its making stuff that won’t ever support debugging (because, yes, there will still be bugs).

That’s 50 years of struggle, deep thinking, and writing the code myself. Difficult (not impossible) for junior developers to replicate.

So where does that leave our junior workforce?

I’m concerned, but I wonder if AI token cost might be the junior worker’s savior.

Here’s a cost comparison of using GPT-5.5 and Opus-4.7 for “heavy agentic coding” which I think is analogous to a junior developer’s role:

Junior Developer (loaded salary): $116k

GPT-5.5 (50M in / 10M out tokens): $145k

Opus-4.7 (50M in / 10M out tokens): $132k

This is for code development. Junior software engineers earn higher salaries than many other types of junior knowledge workers.

So if we compare across other industries, the AI costs stay about the same, but the junior worker costs move downward. And as I’ve mentioned before, AI costs will go up as the providers look IPO and generally start to cash in on their products.

Maybe good old-fashioned finances will solve the junior worker dilemma.

May 14, 2026 1 minute read

Lift Heavy. Run Far

HumanLeadershipThe250

I’ve seen the T-Shirts.

As someone who likes to lift heavy and run far, it resonates. But also, in my current life state, I’m starting to think, “Should I? Is that still a goal?”

Maybe it should be “Lift appropriately. Run for a while.”

I’m wondering what the equivalent engineering motivational T-Shirts say.

“Think hard. Type a lot.”
“Test twice. Push once.”
“Code a lot. Ship a lot.”
“Squash bugs. Chastise colleagues.”
“Ship faster. Rollback more.”

Eh, you get the point.

Motivation is a funny thing. Sometimes we’re deeply focused. Other times, we get distracted by a passing bird.

But motivation and work aren’t the same thing.

Unless we sit down at the keyboard (or tie the running shoes, or put the plates on the bar), the muse never visits us. She just doesn’t show up.

Let’s go.

May 13, 2026 1 minute read

Talking to Strangers

AIHumanLeadership

I don’t even know who these LLMs are anymore.

They’re strangers to me. The latest versions seem to have regressed from their previous models. Now I’m just getting frustrated.

[does some research…]

Aha! They’ve changed. They’ve grown. Their experiences are piling up in their personal histories. They’re different kinds of people now.

They respond better if I talk to them differently than before. Also, the green company’s LLM wants me to talk to it one way, and the blue company’s LLM wants me to talk to it a different way.

Huh. Whoda thought?

Nothing stays the same.

Which means I have to learn and grow myself.

May 12, 2026 3 minute read

Trusting the Process

AIHumanLeadership

I’ve come into contact with two types of people angry about AI:

  1. Those worried that AI is taking jobs
  2. Those worried that AI will ruin the planet

I’ve already talked quite a bit about the first one. It’s true. AI is affecting the job market. No doubt. Just like other technologies. Either figure out how to get AI working for you, or you’ll be working for AI.

Now, the second.

I saw a sign in a coffee shop posted right next to the register. It read “Don’t use AI. AI is literally killing our planet.” Handwritten. Doodles around the words. Artsy.

Independent coffee shop. Another sign saying, “No hate speech.” A community board with notices about yoga and art classes, lost pets, and people looking for roommates. You could buy the locally made art directly from the walls.

You get the picture (or hopefully, buy it).

And also TRUE.

The insatiable appetite for tokens requires more power. A lot more power. More power requires more resources, especially fuel and water.

Microsoft is turning Three-Mile Island back on to supply more power to AI at a cost of over $1.5 billion to restart it and around $15 billion in power purchase costs over 20 years.

So what do we do? Do we stop using AI? If I personally stop, will that help?

I think the path forward has to be a coexistent solution.

How do we find a coexistent solution?

We lean into the tension. Argue about it. Passionately. Hyperbole and protests. Shaming. Doomsday books and books about why it’s all a scam. Dystopian movies and movies about the magic future with AI.

Both sides slinging mud.

I wish that wasn’t the path forward. I wish we could have reasonable and respectful conversations. I wish we could plug an efficient “solve the problem” team into the problem and trust the process and outcome.

Alas, that doesn’t seem to be the way we solve things in our democracy.

Solutions to big problems come from the tension. The inefficiency itself seems to be the track upon which the ideas flow. It’s not good enough. Try again. That’s stupid. Try again. You’re wrong. Try again.

The younger me hates it this way. It’s inefficient. Uncomfortable. Rarely leads to the “right” solution.

But the current me appreciates this process. Everyone gets a say, and what is the “right” solution anyway?

I doubt we’ll ever have the academically perfect solution.

But I’m confident we’ll have the best solution.

May 11, 2026 2 minute read

Toggle Switches

AIHumanTechnology

For an engineer, a toggle switch offers great utility and satisfaction.

On or off, with a satisfying mechanical tension and audible “klunk” when switching between. You can quickly glance at the switch and easily see its state. To move to the other state, flip the switch. Intentionally. Toggle switches serve as safety switches because they are difficult to switch by accident.

Toggle switches are also the fundamental heart of our digital world. We call it boolean logic, but it’s really just toggle switches. On or off. Every computer runs on toggle switches at its core. Software, too. We define a toggle switch as a fundamental type and use it everywhere.

We live in a toggle switch world.

Yes or no. Black or white. Right or wrong.

At least, that’s the way people use their platform to talk about it. I get it. The toggle switch is easy to understand, easy to communicate, and easy to make people feel like they need to choose sides. It’s the perfect sales pitch in a 256-character, first-3-second, red-or-blue culture.

But we don’t live in a toggle switch world.

AI won’t take all the jobs. AI won’t destroy the planet. AI won’t come looking to kill us.

However, AI will affect a lot of jobs. AI does strain our resources. AI can be maliciously incentivized.

I know this post right here won’t make a difference. Not in the this-or-that world. Not in a world where we’re constantly trying to get people in our boat, tell their neighbor, or buy our thing. Nobody’s gonna repost or quote it.

But this is just a reminder to you to keep the faith. Keep embracing nuance. Keep talking to and thinking hard with everyone in the room.

Keep trying to find real solutions.

May 10, 2026 1 minute read

AI the Force Multiplier

AITechnologyThe250

The buzz-phrase about AI is that it’s a “force multiplier.”

Ok, what does that really mean? What are people trying to say?

I think (and this is just a guess) they’re trying to say that AI helps you and your organization be more productive and effective. If that’s what they mean, then yes, I agree that AI can act as a force multiplier.

But what does it multiply?

It multiplies you.

Your input. Your instructions. Your incentives.

Garbage in will still produce garbage out. AI makes it easier than ever. You can generate more crap a lot faster.

So you want AI to be a force multiplier for good?

Get better at requirements, specs, and instructions.

May 9, 2026 1 minute read

If You Could Change It

HumanLeadershipThe250

What would it look like if you could change it?

Your work. Your team. Your marriage. Your health. Your life.

Inertia has power. Stuck is a powerful feeling.

But let’s not confuse feeling stuck with being stuck.

What would it look like if you could change it?

Do one thing today that moves you down that path of change.

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