Old Man Yells at Cloud

A modest essay about why sometimes it's exactly what we need to do.

To say we live in a turbulent time is unfair to what one feels when the plane they are on suddenly shimmies and shakes at 28,000 feet. It's more than just political, although that's very top of mind these days. It's also economic, emotional, and the overall pace of change, which, as we all experience, is changing with an unmatched velocity. Honestly, it makes life feel overwhelming at times.

I suppose I've hit that stage in life where I yell at clouds. I don't do it because I'm cranky; I do it because the world seems hell-bent on giving me reasons to. From the overuse of AI tools to people taking EVERYTHING so damn personally, I find myself muttering to myself like a sitcom curmudgeon who just discovered "the Facebook."  

Before I go much further, let me be clear: this blog isn't about me complaining about change. Anyone who knows anything about me is fully aware that I not only embrace change, but I also try to drive it when I can. Instead, this missive is more my honest observations of what I see in the world – some of it business-related, some of it personal, and all of it 100% authentically me. Call it catharsis, call it observations, call it "Old Man Yells at Cloud," these are the things that currently have me shaking my fist at the sky.

The Overuse and Overreliance of AI – AI is a fantastic tool that can, and I would even argue, should be leveraged to create time efficiencies and help with other things like marketing automation, collaboration, idea generation, content creation, optimization, and a billion other things. I've been very open about my use of AI, and it's helped me become a much more effective and efficient marketer and solopreneur. However, whether it's ChatGPT, MidJourney, Grammarly, or other AI tools, it's better to use them to support what you do, not replace it. It's still an imperfect tool, and when the use is glaringly apparent, it damages your brand. I see too many organizations – organizations I admire and respect – go down the slippery slope to have AI do the work for them, and, whether they realize it or not, it's obvious and makes me view them differently.

The Pursuit of Happiness – I'm not sure where it started, but there seems to be a movement where people believe the formula for happiness is some amalgamation of triumphs, successes, fairy-tale endings, and wanderlust adventures in foreign lands and resorts. I sense that the reliance on showcasing the best part of our lives on social media for all to see and envy is the culprit, but that's not the formula for happiness. Well, it's not my formula. For me, and I suspect many others, happiness is working hard on work that matters, maintaining relationships, feeling loved and secure, and consistently going to bed at a normal time. I think it's time we stop trying so hard to impress the online social media audience with the life we believe they will be envious of and start prioritizing the people that actually matter: clients, family, and friends (the real ones).

The Loss of Civility in Discourse – You can file this under, "no shit, Bill." However, it's my blog, which means my rules. While I could go on a diatribe about the current toxic political atmosphere in the United States right now, I'm actually referring to how many people use online forums for a bastardized Seinfeldian airing of grievances. Perhaps this is me showing my age, but I don't understand what is accomplished by targeting a person or a company on social media. If you're in the branded merchandise industry, you've seen this play out time and again in the Promotional Products Professionals Facebook group. Generally speaking, posting inflammatory and accusatory comments publicly BEFORE trying to find a resolution privately makes one look foolish – period. As Deion Sanders might say, people keep receipts when they see that type of aggressive communication.

Taking Things Personally – I'm not sure when we got to a point where so many seem to believe the most minor of transgressions is some calculated, planned, and personal attack. Things like:

• A driver cuts you off on your commute, making it easy to assume that the "jerk thinks he's more important" than you.

• The prospect ghosts you on a meeting you've spent weeks preparing for instantly makes people think they value their time more than yours.

• A supplier makes a mistake on an order for your biggest client, so they must not really care about distributors.

Take a moment and realize that the overwhelming majority of people are 100% focused on their lives: the good, the bad, the challenging, the heartbreaking, and the catastrophic. It's probable that the driver who cut you off wasn't focused on his surroundings and didn't see you at all. The prospect who ghosted you, perhaps they are just disorganized and overbooked themselves. And, because we never know what people are dealing with, the supplier that made a mistake may have been distracted because someone in their family was diagnosed with a terminal disease. I suppose my point here is that the world is an imperfect place and things go wrong; having some grace and understanding – even when, hell, especially when, you don't know the whole story is likely what you would want if the roles were reversed. The bottom line is this: we put WAY too much thought into assuming people do things "to" us on purpose. For the most part, they don't.

The Hatred of Nickelback – Art, including music, is subjective. I completely understand why someone may not care for specific genres of music, prefer one lead singer over another, or believe a particular pop star is overrated. That being said, for the life of me, I can't understand why they get such disdain from just about anyone who has an opinion about music. It's time that people free themselves from the prison they've built around themselves and admit it: Nickelback is a damn good band.

Chad Kroeger and his band write undeniably catchy tunes, have an amazing connection with their audience, and are one of the top-selling acts of the 21st century, having sold over 50 million albums worldwide. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that I could easily substitute the word "Nickelback" with "Taylor Swift" and the above description would be the same. Also, I'd have to goose up the album sales numbers by a factor of two, but I digress. My point here is that, sure, it's fun to make fun of the band, but you're missing out on some pretty damn good music. Honestly, I think they are the "most hated band that nobody actually hates."

What did I accomplish by writing all of that down and sharing it with those of you who made it this far? I'm not so egotistic as to think that anything I write genuinely helps anyone, so most likely, I accomplished little more than the catharsis that writing always gives me. I'm good with that.

So, perhaps that's all this is: me yelling at clouds because someone has to. Frankly, sometimes clouds deserve it.