Field Notes

When I’m building with AI, I get into a rhythm. Tab, return, tab, return. Each choice seems small, a label, a default, an extra step, so I let it stay. Then I look up and I’ve let the tool make more decisions than I intended, and once it’s built it is harder to question. So I’m learning to pause while the work is still taking shape, and ask whether I chose this, or just accepted it.

Many organizations approach research, feedback, and implementation like Western medicine: identify a problem, treat the symptom, and move on. A more holistic approach is closer to functional medicine, which focuses on understanding the deeper systems, behaviors, and conditions that create recurring problems. Surveys and reactive feedback can reveal where issues exist, but they are rarely enough to explain why they persist or what will create lasting change.

At some point I started to see my work as an expression of who I was. My curiosity, what I noticed, what I wanted to make better. I thought that would make it more frightening, and it was more vulnerable. But it left more room to move, and less need to know where every step would lead before taking it.