Tag Archives: finance

Is That Your Voice, or is it AI?

Stating the obvious, AI will be a tremendous benefit to several sectors of industry from manufacturing and quality control to medical diagnosis and cures. No matter what you do, it’s probably a benefit in at least creating a starting point for research.

Less than obvious is how we personally use AI to manage our daily communication.

In the arts, whether it is music, acting, writing, you frequently hear the phrase “find your voice”. Meaning, or course, to let your personality, your knowledge and your emotions show in your creative output.

I have been the recipient of several documents authored by AI. I can tell that is the case, because I am missing the distinct voice of the author. And the details and research skim the surface of the topic or cover superficial research that is not really relevant to the topic. I know, I know, it is dependent on asking AI the right questions. But still, the “voice” is what I miss.

A colleague of mine subjected one of my posts to AI – asking to write it in different voices. Honestly, it was scary how good it was. But it was not me. Maybe my writing is not concise enough. Maybe my phrasing is awkward at times. But it is my voice, which like all of our voices, is distinct.

So I am wondering, do you think you will use AI for personal business communication? Or will you use your own voice?

(No AI was used in the composition of this post)

Walter Edward Deming’s Impact on Order Management in Media.

Walter Deming’s legacy had an enormous impact on manufacturing, and I’d argue, on media operations. In 1950’s post-war Japan he preached the importance of process and workflow in improving manufacturing excellence. He is recognized as the key influence in transforming the Japenese economy into a model for quality – think Toyota. In fact, Japan created the “Deming Prize” awarded to those who have impacted quality control in manufacturing.

 And what does that have to do with order management in media?

Among other things, Demings preached the importance of having a full knowledge of the end to end process in creating anything. And this is particularly important in our media business, because it’s complexity encompasses multiple platforms, from CRM to OMS, DMP, Ad Serving, Billing and Data Management. Understanding these “links in a chain” is a never-ending pursuit.

Demings advocated for the “appreciation of a system” including, among other things:

Understanding the overall processes involving suppliers, producers and customers.

Understanding how interactions between elements of a system and the rules that govern them force the system to behave as a single organism.

Think of this as workflow being a series of links in a chain.

Personally, I found Deming’s thought process inspiring early in my career. It helped in viewing ad operations wholistically from quote to cash, as the phrase goes.

I’d recommend looking at “Out of the Crisis” in which Deming elaborated on his theory of management and quality control, and detailed that in his “System of Profound Knowledge” – gotta love that understatement, right? Also, “Demings Journey to Profound Knowledge” by John Willis is also very good – listening to that as an audio book at the moment. (No AI was used in the composition of this post)