Growth Is Beautiful, And It's The Only Way To Escape Being Replaced By Artificial Intelligence
Growth is how great brands, businesses and professionals stay relevant.
“One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.” - Abraham Maslow
I recently stumbled upon old pictures of the early days of prominent global brands, and I kept smiling as I viewed them with awe and excitement.
I saw the old pictures of Jeff Bezos when he started Amazon and of Sergey Brin and Larry Page building Google in a small room; Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in the early days of Apple; Bill Gates and Paul Allen; Elon Musk, and other global tech and non-tech founders, and pictures of their first products and services (I shared some below—the tech guys).
It was all beautiful. And full of inspiration.
Growth is beautiful.
Growth is even more beautiful when you last long enough in the growth journey to enjoy the fruits of your labour.
To those of us still growing and trying to break it through, I urge you to keep at it.
Keep learning.
Keep making mistakes.
Keep the fire of curiosity burning within your heart.
Keep forging and nurturing what I call "leadership relationships."
Keep growing deeper and deeper and better and better.
There's No Limit To Growth
“Stay afraid, but do it anyway. What’s important is the action. You don’t have to wait to be confident. Just do it and eventually the confidence will follow.” - Carrie Fisher
In my latest article, I talked about how writers, creators, and businesses can last long doing the things they love doing, and in that article, I talked about "Good Growth."
Good growth is more concerned with longevity and not just expansion. It's more concerned with how it can keep changing people's lives for a long time than just how much money can be made in ten or twenty years (bad growth).
Google is still growing. Brands shouldn't stop growing. Creators and businesses shouldn't stop growing. You shouldn't reach a plateau in your growth as a brand, business, or even as a person or professional.
There's still so much to explore.
And we risk the possibility of extinction if we ever stop growing.
This brings us to the second part of this discussion.
Growth Is The Only Antidote To Being Replaced By AI
Who would have imagined AI could cause this much disruption (and destruction) in such a short period?
Nobody, or maybe a few super-experts.
See where we are now?
Global brands (tech and non-tech) are all rushing to get a big slice of the AI Cake.
Under their big, warring, giant hoofs are ordinary, everyday people also struggling to keep up with AI and fighting hard to keep their jobs.
In this age, those who frown at growth will quickly and quietly drown in all the noise and chaos.
It's those who commit to growth and life-long learning that will survive.
Google is already struggling to keep up with the AI revolution.
First, they came up with BARD, and now Gemini. It's all part of their strategy to remain relevant. It's so serious that Sergey Brin has returned to working on AI-related projects at Google.
The company must keep growing. If it doesn't, it'll die. Simple.
On the other hand, Meta is seriously battling to become an AI god, while Elon Musk isn't sleeping either. He's also launching his AI Startup!
The AI competition landscape is terse.
Hundreds of super-intelligent and heavily funded smaller brands are ready to munch on the carcass of big companies like Google and any global brand that refuses to grow.
The same principle applies to you as a creator, business, or professional.
The world is advancing at such an unimaginable pace.
If you don't know how to keep up, you'll be abandoned, left behind in an old world—replaced by AI or someone who knows how to work with AI.
It's scary, but true.
AI has already replaced thousands of jobs. Made people homeless and emptied the bank accounts and stomachs of many people.
Some people are already becoming obsolete (if they choose to).
The fight to remain relevant in the world of work is becoming more challenging.
And the only antidote—the only cure—is growth.
How Can We Preserve A Growth Culture In An AI-Driven World?
I made a short LinkedIn post about some NHS UK trusts telling applicants not to use generative AI to write supporting statements.
I guess they have found out that most applicants now turn to generative AI to help them write supporting statements.
I know they are right; they want people to write these important documents themselves, but what they don't know is that they can't stop it.
AI is gradually becoming like our smartphones.
Soon, people won't be able to do anything without AI.
It's going to become "second nature."
It'll just blend into society like an invincible film or coating.
No one would ever know.
It's normal for us to fight disruptions at first, but with time, we will all adjust.
For those using AI to write statements or do school or corporate work, I am pleased to let you know that there are ways you can use AI responsibly. And I'll write about it in the next edition (don't tell anyone about this—it's our little secret).
Pursuing a growth culture in an ever-advancing technology-powered world is the only antidote to staying relevant and not dying and getting buried in an unmarked grave (literally).
I'll mention the points, and in the next edition, I'll write in-depth about them.
Re-discovering Your Humanity
Understanding And Appreciating Your Humanity
Discovering Your Potential
Mastering Your Potential
The Forever Pursuit Of Growth
Building Networks And Community Of Like-minded Human Beings
Having A Deep Knowledge Of How AI Works And How To Use It To Your Advantage (the responsible use of AI)
I call them the seven pillars of staying alive in the world of AI (how does that even sound—do I sound like Robin Sharma?)
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“The swiftest way to triple your success is to double your investment in personal development.” - Robin Sharma
On Unbounded, I write about leadership, tech and health, innovation, creativity, culture, and entrepreneurship.
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Thank you for this sir! Very insightful write-up, I must say.