What Stays The Same

Has the pace of AI news got your head spinning? Does it feel impossible to make decisions because of all that uncertainty?

Here's an alternative frame, courtesy of Jeff Bezos:

I very frequently get the question: 'What's going to change in the next 10 years?' ... I almost never get the question: 'What's not going to change in the next 10 years?' And I submit to you that that second question is actually the more important of the two — because you can build a business strategy around the things that are stable in time.

For Amazon, that's low prices and fast delivery. No matter what else changes, customers will always want those things. Any investment there is money well spent.

Every business has these timeless truths. They'll be different from Bezos's. If you make ultra high-end luxury watches, your customers care about exclusivity, not speed. But they'll be durable.

Once you've identified yours, it does two things for you. First, it offers a lens to interpret new technology: Does this help my enduring strategy? If not, safe to ignore. Second, it lets you view new technology as opportunity instead of threat.

Consider how the music industry thought about MP3s: "We're in the business of selling CDs. Downloads threaten CD sales. Fight them!"

If they'd focused on what stays the same: "We're in the business of selling access to music. Downloads are even more convenient than CDs. Get in on that!"

We ended up there anyway, but with a decade wasted on pointless fights against Napster.

If you're feeling whiplash from the AI news cycle, this might be worth sitting with for a bit. What are the timeless truths in your business? And does AI threaten them, or help you deliver on them even better?

Hit reply and let me know. I'm genuinely curious what you come up with.