I help entrepreneurs leapfrog over the typical potholes that derail most small businesses with inspiration, motivation, education, and support across a wide range of business topics drawn from over a decade of running my own business, teaching entrepreneurship for the City of New York, and coaching and consulting privately with dozens of women and minority small business owners. Honestly, why go it alone when help is an email away?
Taking a Breather
Something that's living rent-free in my brain these days is a crazy finding from a Google Deep Mind AI research project published last month.
When prompted to "take a deep breath and work on this problem step by step," their AI was 80% more accurate in solving math problems.
That's a lot.
Without that prompt, the AI achieved only a 34% accuracy rate.
Even just adding the prompt, "work on this problem step by step" saw a 71% solve rate.
When combined with "take a deep breath," the prompt was the single most effective in getting AI to correctly solve 8,500 problems that researchers said, "A bright middle school student should be able to solve."
Even as I write this, my mind is boggled.
Does this mean AI is more 'human' than we realize?
It kinda makes sense, to be honest.
AI is trained on human language inputs. It learns from mass quantities of data collected from human interactions.
So, how does this help us with our own very human problem-solving strategies?
- Stress is Neither Efficient nor Effective
We're all under pressure these days from multiple fronts. Pressure from ourselves, customers or clients, external factors, world events, family situations.
We need to find ways to manage and mitigate these forces to allow ourselves to focus on each problem as it arises by minimizing distractions both internal and external.
- Multitasking Is a Myth
Our brains can't really work on more than one thing at a time. There's a ton of research already that proves this. And, yet, we still think we're the exception to this rule.
Stop telling yourself you're good at multitasking and start blocking off time to get individual items on your to-do list done. You'll end up being much more productive.
- Some Breakdowns Are a Good Thing
When challenged by a complex problem we often feel overwhelmed, which makes it harder for us to tackle it. We feel defeated before we've even begun.
Break things down into smaller chunks. Ask yourself, "What's the first thing I need to do?" And then, "What comes next?" "What's after that?" And, so on.
- Breathwork Makes the Brain Work Better
When we breathe deeply we stimulate the vagus nerve that runs from our brain to our gut. By doing this, we turn off our 'fight or flight' reflex, which immediately reduces stress and anxiety.
Before diving into problem-solving mode, take a 10 minute break and do a breathing exercise or two. (Here's an easy, free step-by-step deep-breathing-worksheet if you're new to breathwork.)
- AI Isn't Perfect
When utilizing AI, it's important to remember that the foundation of this technology is human. Bias, unconscious or otherwise, is baked in. So is the potential for fabrication.
There are plenty of examples of AI citing fake research studies, legal cases, and more. Leverage AI but check its output. Don't just trust it knows better than you do.
As a self-proclaimed language nerd, I really dig this advice from Copy.ai prompt engineer, Anna Bernstein: "To get the most out of AI prompts, one should use a thesaurus and pay closer attention to verbs."
That's just good life advice, in my opinion. 🤓
Looking for some business advice on AI or something else, let's talk.
Until next time,
PS - If you missed it, last week I was all crazy (or not) for Pumpkin Spice.
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I help entrepreneurs leapfrog over the typical potholes that derail most small businesses with inspiration, motivation, education, and support across a wide range of business topics drawn from over a decade of running my own business, teaching entrepreneurship for the City of New York, and coaching and consulting privately with dozens of women and minority small business owners. Honestly, why go it alone when help is an email away?
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