Has efficiency eroded your humanity?

In the January 2026 edition:

• Efficiency can be a good thing…but have you let it go too far?

• How to stay informed about the economy, technology, climate science, and more

• A much-needed pause for peace and joy (with kittens 🐈‍⬛)

But first—let’s stand with Minnesota. Here are some resources for how you can help people in MN being affected by government oppression and violence. I donated to the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Fund (MIRAC) but there are plenty of other organizations to choose from, and ways to offer direct support through mutual aid.

SOMETHING USEFUL

Don’t let technology steal your capacity for connection

I remember when I first saw efficiency cast in a negative light: “Efficiency is not the same as effectiveness” was the gist, and that was an ah-ha moment for me. It’s a concept I’ve since discussed in this newsletter and with my clients; that you can become extremely efficient at doing the wrong things, which can have a negative impact over time.

But the PR campaign for extreme efficiency hasn’t stopped. Automation and AI are just the newest tools being pushed on us by tech companies that want to remove all friction and inconvenience from our lives.

As small businesses owners, we’re feeling pressure to automate everything and use AI wherever possible, without stopping to ask what we’re losing in the process. And what we’re losing may be our capacity to slow down to connect with, and care for, the people who are our customers, neighbors, and community members.

Recently, I saw efficiency criticized as the absence of resilience in the excellent book “How Infrastructure Works” by Deb Chachra. She writes,

Chachra’s book is about public infrastructure (power grids, municipal water, etc.) but the concepts apply to the systems in our businesses. She’s saying that perfectly efficient systems with no wasted resources are brittle, because they have no capacity to respond to something new or unexpected.

A perfectly efficient system isn’t resilient and doesn’t hold space for connection, care, or reflection. But those are critical elements for every type of business system, from finances, to customer service, to marketing strategy.

Resilience is a central part of strong financial systems—what else could possibly be at the core of a good customer service system than care and connection?—and how can we market ourselves and reach new customers if we don’t make time to reflect on the value we have to offer?

Too much efficiency robs us of the capacity to connect and care. Automation and AI make it easier than ever to go down that road, even unintentionally. But without connection and care, what is bonding us and our businesses to our communities? For that matter, what is bonding our customers to our businesses?

Connection isn’t just a warm and fuzzy feeling, it’s an essential component of success. We don’t have the scale or revenue diversity of Amazon or Target. We rely on direct support from individual people and we need to value and nurture those relationships, or they will go away. We need to be more to our customers than just a line item that gets deleted when they need to tighten their budgets.

So I’m skeptical of automating, or outsourcing to AI, the most essential parts of my business. Real people don’t want to be shoved through an automated sales funnel. Real people don’t want to wrestle with an AI-enabled customer service app or CRM just to set up an appointment or get a question answered. Real people aren’t interested in AI-generated copy or social media posts.

Real people want to interact with a real person. Sure, it’s not “frictionless” and it may even seem inconvenient, but we’re not meant to maximize convenience at the expense of connection.

There is, of course, a place for some automation, maybe even AI, in our businesses. Many administrative processes really benefit from tech-driven efficiency improvements. Keep using technology that helps you run your business better!

But make sure it doesn’t sever your essential connections to your customers and community. Technology can erode your humanity if you let it.

A final thought from Deb Chachra (seriously her book is so good):

SOMETHING NEAT

With the deluge of content we all endure each day, I’m always looking for sources of accurate, well-researched, useful, and entertaining news and information. A tall order, I know.

But you can get all that and more from Marketplace, American Public Media’s portfolio of shows about business, the economy, climate change, technology, culture, and more. These are my favorites:

• Marketplace—The flagship show about all things business & the economy; they’re doing a great series on the economic impact of AI right now

• Make Me Smart—Culture, current events, and how they relate to the economy

• How We Survive—Economic and cultural impacts of climate change

• Marketplace Tech—How technology, business, and the economy affect one another

A LITTLE TREAT

Honestly, I’m feeling a little short on fun treats at the moment. But what feels best right now are small moments of peace and joy. Here’s a few that have helped me lately:

If you need a bit of peace, listen to the Poetry Unbound podcast, where poet Padráig Ó Tuama reads and explores a new poem in every episode. Try “Trespassing with Tweens” by Danielle Chapman.

If you need a bit of joy, watch this livestream of a mama cat and her three kittens at the Kitten Rescue Sanctuary in Los Angeles.

WORK WITH ME

This newsletter is for everyone, but a one-on-one consulting engagement is tailored to you and your business. Here’s how I can support you:

• Strategic Action Planning—For solo business owners with a lot to do, and never enough time. We’ll refine, prioritize, and organize your goals, and I’ll create a road map for you to get them done. (My most popular service.)

• Resilience Jumpstart—Turn analysis paralysis into decisive action with affordable 1:1 support to get you moving in the right direction fast.

• Operations Analysis—Is your business built on a strong foundation? An operations deep dive will tell you exactly what to do to make your business work better from the inside out.

• General Consulting—Get expert support with business challenges like workload sustainability, financial fundamentals, pricing, client communication, and more.

When you’re ready, schedule a free 30 minute intro call with me.

Thanks for reading—see you next month. If you have a business owner friend who would find this newsletter useful, please share it with them!