The Illusion of Knowledge

Jalen Brunson recently crowned his incredible 2025-26 season by becoming the reigning NBA Finals MVP. When talking about his success, it reminds me one of his quotes:

“𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨’𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵.”

This mindset doesn’t just apply to professional basketball. Lately, it’s been reminding me of the exact attitude we need when using AI tools.

Right now, it is incredibly tempting to use AI as a shortcut. We ask a complex question, the AI tool generates a polished response, and we immediately copy and paste that text into our emails, programs, reports, or assignments.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲.

We trick ourselves into believing that because we successfully prompted the answer, we actually learned and understood the concept. But the truth is, we skipped the most important part: the cognitive heavy lifting.

Here is the bottom line: 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴.

AI is a revolutionary tool when used to 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵 your learning process. It can help you brainstorm, break down complex topics, or serve as a sparring partner for your ideas. But you still have to put in the hard work to truly master the topics you are studying.

Don’t just use AI to get the answer. Use it to help you do the work.

#AI #LearningAndDevelopment #JalenBrunson #FutureOfWork

The Shortest Path …

The shortest path is the one you don’t abandon.

In the world of IT, we used to see major technology cycles and new ways of working evolve every 3 to 4 years. It gave us time to adapt, master, and implement.

Since last year, that cycle was compressed to every 3 months – largely thanks to the fanatic wave of AI. But since the start of this year? The landscape shifts every 3 weeks, if not faster. New tools, new framework, new techniques, new acronyms … 

Lately, I can’t help but ask myself: How much time do I actually need to learn all of this? Do any of us even have enough time at all?

I’ve shared before about the importance of ruthlessly picking what to learn, adopting on-demand learning, and leaning into micro-learning. But as the pace goes hyper-speed, the next crucial skill isn’t about learning faster—it’s about filtering better.

We need to ignore the noise and the marketing hype. Stop hopping from one shiny new tool to another. Instead, focus strictly on what is best for your life and your specific career path. Learn deeply, and do as much as you possibly can with the tools you already have in your hands.

Become a master, not a jumper.

It reminds me of that classic line in photography: “What’s the best camera on earth to capture a precious moment? The one that is with you.”

The same applies to technology. The best tool isn’t the one launching next week; it’s the one you actually use to solve real problems today.

How are you filtering the noise in your own workflow right now?

#ContinuousLearning #AITrends #TechLeadership

Where Am I?

Every time I glance at my phone, this view reminds me exactly of where my feet are right now.

I have a deliberate business ritual: whenever I am traveling for work or diving into a specific market, I need to be entirely present. No distractions about what my Hong Kong looks like, what hour it is back home – just absolute focus on the task at hand.

That’s why my lock screen always displays an image of my current local city instead of my hometown. I intentionally pull these photos from my own album – shots I’ve personally taken during my travels. It serves as a meaningful, visual trigger to instantly switch my context to the local market. Focus, focus, focus… on the real work.

But being “present” in 2026 means something entirely different than it did just a few years ago. As professionals, we are all navigating an era of ubiquitous AI. It saves us time, but it also forces us to ask a critical question about where we direct our daily attention:

What is your real work goal today?

➡️ Is it merely managing and polishing the outputs of an AI tool?

➡️ Or is it leveraging your deeply earned expert knowledge to guide, prompt, and orchestrate those tools to do the work?

For me, the value isn’t in letting AI take the wheel while we passively watch. True leverage comes from using our human intuition, strategic vision, and local context to steer it in the right direction. Just like my phone wallpaper, it all comes down to where you choose to place your focus.

Curious to hear from my network – what is your business travel ritual and how are you redefining your “real work” in the age of AI?

#FutureOfWork #AI #BusinessRituals

The Digital Print and Footprint

The Digital Photo Dilemma: What happens to all those pictures we take?

We snap countless photos every single day and on every trip we take. But once the moment passes, how do you treat or reuse your photos?

Instead of letting them gather digital dust on my hard drive, I decided to try something different. While I regularly use my own shots in my presentations, I’ve started hand-picking a few of my favorites for some years and hosting them on #Unsplash – completely free for anyone to download.

Then, the experiment began…

I am always curious about how other people perceive and appreciate my photography. I realized the best way to find out is to see exactly how they use my photos out in the wild on their own blogs, articles, or websites.

By making these photos freely available to other netizens, I can trace their journey across the web and see the unique, creative contexts they end up in.

I recently did another deep dive to see where my images have traveled, and it’s been incredibly rewarding. Here are the results of my latest Google Image search! 👇

Photography #CreativeCommunity #DigitalFootprint #PhotographyExperiment

Clear Thinking > Fast Typing

I came across this “relic” today – my old IBM Flowcharting Ruler.

In the “good old days,” before typing a single line of code onto a punch card, we had to be incredibly intentional. Computer time was expensive and punch cards weren’t free. We used these rulers to meticulously map out program logic, followed by hours of “desktop debugging” before the hardware ever saw our work.

Fast forward to 2026, and the game has changed. We are in the age of Chat-to-Code. With a simple Product Requirements Document (PRD) or a solid implementation plan, AI can generate entire application with hundreds line of code in seconds.

But here is the reality: The tool has changed, but the “Golden Rule” hasn’t.

Clear Thinking > Fast Typing

Just because we can generate code instantly doesn’t mean we should do it blindly. In the age of AI, your clear thinking is still your most valuable asset.

➡️ Garbage In, Garbage Out: If your requirements or logic is fuzzy, your AI-generated code will be a hallucinated mess.

➡️ Architectural Integrity: AI is great at writing functions; humans are still the masters of designing systems.

➡️ Efficiency: A well-structured prompt born from a clear plan saves hours of “prompt-tweaking” and debugging later.

The Lesson from the Ruler

Back then, we planned to save punch cards. Today, we plan to save technical debt and architectural drift.

Whether you’re using a plastic stencil from the 70s / 80s or the latest LLM, the secret to great software remains the same: Understand the requirements and logic before you touch the keys.

How much time do you spend “ruling out” your logic before you ask AI to build?

#SoftwareEngineering #GenerativeAI #Flowchart #Programming