The Resilient Entrepreneur, Edition #89
Hi there
I hope you had a great week!
Here are the topics in today's edition:
- Zero Inbox: How to Do It, and How Not to Do It
- What if OpenAI Stopped Operating? A Thought Experiment
Please reach out if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for articles!
Talk soon 👋
Tom
KickKerK
LEADERSHIP FOR RESILIENT ENTREPRENEURS
Zero Inbox: How to Do It, and How Not to Do It
Glaring into somebody’s laptop screen is not what I normally do. But I was triggered by a “zero inbox” sticker, and I saw anything but.
Recently, I sat in a meeting next to someone who had a sticker on the laptop screen saying “zero inbox”. The sticker was flashy enough for me to look at the person’s screen (I hate when people look at my screen, but I have a privacy filter instead of a flashy “zero inbox” sticker).
What I saw on that screen was anything but “zero inbox”. The person switched between Outlook and Gmail, managing two messy inboxes during the meeting. Occasionally, the desktop screen revealed that it wasn’t just a mess in the email inboxes, but also on the desktop.
In the good old days, people said that by looking at somebody’s desk, you could judge how orderly (or unorderly) their minds were. Today, just look at their email inbox or their computer desktop.
Rather than talking too much about other people, let’s look at how you can truly achieve zero inbox. Here are some practical tips.
1. One Topic, One Email
I’m sure you have received lengthy emails spanning multiple topics, preferably with a long CC line. Recently, I overheard somebody bragging about using AI to write longer emails.
Longer emails usually contain multiple topics. And the more topics in an email (and the more people on the CC line), the harder it gets to work through an email and file it for good. Furthermore, longer emails run the risk that they are misunderstood by all those people on the CC line, and them replying to all to clarify things — you’ll get more email instead of less.
If you strive for “zero inbox”, then write short, concise emails. One topic, one email. It’s not just easier to work through short, concise emails; it’s also much easier to file (and later retrieve) them.
2. Pick Up The Phone
Most of those lengthy emails are useless anyway: For complex topics, you will have to speak to people. It’s an illusion that you can avoid holding a meeting or calling somebody by just writing an email. Problems will always bounce back, resulting in more emails, and finally in a meeting or call anyway.
So what are you waiting for? Pick up the phone and settle the issue instead of generating more emails.
3. Create Tasks
When I am asked to do something via email, I don’t leave the email in the inbox until I find time to complete the task. I write back to the sender, acknowledging that I will take care of the task and giving an estimate by when the sender can expect the requested deliverable.
Then, I create a task in my personal sprint board where I track my work. And I am filing the email to keep my inbox tidy.
4. The “Waiting” Folder
Sometimes, I ask somebody else to do something for me by email. Instead of leaving this email in the sent items folder, I move it to a special folder called “Waiting”. There, I keep all the messages where I am waiting for an answer from somebody. When I receive the answer, I file the entire email trail.
And yes, I check the “Waiting” folder once a week. All those people who have worked with me know that they will get reminders if they don’t reply to a message that is sitting in the “Waiting” folder.
5. Delete With Pride
Last but not least, lots of emails are not worth keeping. Status update emails from all the cloud tools you use, messages exchanged to find a date to meet, etc.
I am not the kind of person who keeps every email, just in case I will need it to prove something to somebody in the future. I delete emails quickly and with pride. My email inbox is neither a meeting minutes repository nor a contacts archive — there are specialized tools for these tasks.
Conclusion
What do we learn from those thoughts on “zero inbox”?
First, “zero inbox” is an end, not a means by itself. It’s a result of your work ethic, not a tool.
And second, always remember that the more emails you write, the more emails you will get. Ciao ciao, “zero inbox”.
CRISIS MANAGEMENT FOR RESILIENT ENTREPRENEURS
What if OpenAI Stopped Operating? A Thought Experiment
Humans are good at getting used to comfortable situations, but they are bad at planning for adversity. “What if” is the central question.
In today’s world, a lot can go wrong. It’s not just the large issues, such as climate change or the return of war to Europe. Everything is connected, and the consequences of seemingly small events can be huge. We’re much more susceptible to crises than we commonly think — yet nobody dares to think the unthinkable. It’s because people still cherish the (past) good times, and they don’t recognize the need to build a crisis attitude.
As an example, let’s look at the world of IT. Last week, Amazon Web Services (AWS) suffered a large-scale outage when a bug in automation software brought down thousands of sites and applications. A single bug at a single company disrupted the entire internet for a whole day.
Let’s take this one step further: What if OpenAI either went out of business or its leadership decided to terminate access to ChatGPT in your country?
It’s rather unlikely that OpenAI will go out of business, yet I found a thought experiment on this. However, in the times of tightened geopolitics and larger-than-life egos, a suspension of service in entire countries is not entirely off the table — especially in small countries such as Switzerland, my home country. The total revenue share of Switzerland is small, and Switzerland has a reputation for behaving neutrally rather than striking back.
How would such a ban impact our country?
1. No more memes and quick searches
Many people use ChatGPT to create funny memes or as a replacement for Google Search. If ChatGPT were no longer available, memes could still be found on those old-school meme sites, and Google Search would take back the place it had held with users for decades.
People would complain initially, but get used to it very quickly. No big deal.
2. No more auto-generated content on social media
Nowadays, a lot of content on social media is AI-generated. So if ChatGPT weren’t available anymore in your country, would you get human-made social media back?
Nope.
Social media is a global business, so the AI-generated content would just be uploaded from a different country.
3. Lower productivity
Many people and companies use ChatGPT daily to help them with routine tasks that took lots of time before the age of AI — merging lists, creating website code, configuring software, to name just a few.
The unavailability of ChatGPT would cause productivity to nosedive, but there are alternatives to ChatGPT. Therefore, I guess people would be able to adapt their workflows quite quickly.
4. Frenzy for below-the-hood users
ChatGPT is just OpenAI’s end-user product. But you can use OpenAI’s large-language models in your own software through the OpenAI API — you would be surprised if you knew how many software companies do this today. To give you an idea, most software tools that scream “now leveraging AI!” at you rely on the OpenAI API in the background.
If OpenAI were to suspend access to its model in your country, all Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) hosted in your country would cease to function properly. However, it’s quite hard to define in what country a SaaS resides: Is it where the company is incorporated, where the company has its servers, or both?
5. Bankruptcy for AI startups
In the last 2 years, many startups were created entirely on the foundations of AI: Copywriting tools, virtual assistants, or niche analytics tools. If OpenAI pulled the plug on their API in your country, it would lead to an immediate and total revenue loss for all those startups, leading to widespread startup bankruptcy. Most probably, doubling the price of the OpenAI API would be enough to achieve the same effect on many AI startups.
Conclusion
Like the AWS outage last week, ChatGPT impacts our lives and companies in many ways. Humankind is very good at getting used to comfortable situations, but they are very bad at planning for adverse scenarios, irrespective of how remote they might be.
Do you need help in getting started to think the unthinkable? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. I have summarized my thoughts on crisis attitude and preparation in an eBook you can download for free.
Happy reading!
About Me
Growing a company 📈 in uncertain times 🔥🧨 is like running a marathon — it demands grit, strategy, and resilience.
As a tech entrepreneur 💻, active reserve officer 🪖, and father of three 👩👦👦, I share practical insights and write about entrepreneurship, leadership, and crisis management.
When I’m not solving problems, I recharge and find inspiration in the breathtaking mountains 🏔 around Zermatt 🇨🇭.
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