Friday Thoughts April Eighteenth

Patrick McFadden • April 18, 2014

My blog post today includes posting my comments and links to a handful of articles or great content I ran across over this year.

I don’t go into depth about the finds, but encourage you check them out if they sound interesting.

Question:  What’s your approach to social media – do you have a strategy? Is your social media strategy paying off for you beyond meaningless metrics?  

Comment:   Your statement above is the reason I say, “Being persistent is a tactic, but not a strategy.” I can’t speak for everyone but I make sure there’s a strategy for the activities in my business where I want to see excellence. Wikipedia defines “strategy” as a long term plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. Imagine you are driving a Ferrari at 80 mph headed straight toward San Antonio – but you really want to go to Los Angeles. Accelerating to 120 mph may give you the sense that you are really making progress, temporarily. But what you really need to do is change direction.

We all need to be careful of being (or just doing it because it’s possible) “persistent” in the wrong direction. Right direction is more important than persistence.
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Question: What are your thoughts?

Comment:   I have to agree, by far the best lead generator is to give an event presentation and follow it with customized letters, calls or emails to individuals that you met.
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Question: Did you enjoy this post?

Comment:  Great post Maddie!!! My (2¢) is that blogging is a completely safe method of finding out if you have a message that people want to hear. And that’s the real question. Don’t blog just for the sake of blogging – blog because you have a message than you can’t contain. No one is an “expert” at the beginning. We all just start where we are and get in the game. But it’s by being in the game that we refine and develop skills, information and relationships that ultimately make us “experts.”
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Question: What’s the key to avoiding the discounting death spiral?

Comment:  I would say the key to avoiding the death discount spiral to have a focused and strategic plan for knowing what gets the shopper of prospect through the door and then, know, exactly how you will differentiate your product or service from the sea-of-sameness, where the relationship is on other factors than price.

For sure the race to the bottom is real.
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Question: What do you think? What are your thoughts on using the LinkedIn publishing platform?

Comment:   I think the LinkedIn Publishing platform has some real upside for many business owners and marketers. Published content that collects social signals and shares does wonders for an author’s authority and for many the LinkedIn publishing platform might be one of the best places to get exposure, build engagement, pick up +1s and send Google an authority message.
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Question: What’s your opinion on effective selling and social media?

Comment:   From day one it’s been said that the proper use of social media is for engagement, not sales.

But when you think about it – effective selling has always been about engagement first, because true engagement happens between people.

Question:  What do you think? Have you tried any of these Facebook tactics? Are there any smaller brands you’re aware of that are doing awesome things?

Comment:   I really like #8: Deliver Content That Interests Your Fans. At the core “care about what I care about.” I always think shared passions is a great tactic because it can create an increase in engagement and fan base.
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Question:  What do you think? Do you use any of these social media strategies? What’s working well for you today?

 Comment:   It’s time for all companies to realize every employee is an ambassador for the organization. As Jay mention, “your employees have far more social connections than your company is ever likely to accrue.”

Translation = It’s all good. The benefit of the company will accrue to the individuals, and conversely the brand equity in the individuals will accrue to the company.

The reality is that social belongs everywhere in the org and each department and individual is charged with using social behavior to meet their objectives and add value to relationships.

Question:  What about you? Have you reverse engineered the numbers to deliver the ROI you want?  Have you ever thought about social media ROI in this way? What are you doing to deliver ROI?

Comment:   Nichole powerful opening statement, “every time a marketer says that social media ROI isn’t important or doesn’t tell the whole story, a piece of their career potential dies.” The goal is not to get good at social media (unless that’s your hobby), the goal is to be remarkable at business because of social media.

No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he’d only had good intentions – he had money (conversion), too.

I personally would have no interest as a business owner in social media if it didn’t improve the way I conduct business.
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Question:  What other free or low cost content distribution would you recommend and why?

Comment:   It’s funny that most of have had the ability to create content for a while, but the problem was the cost of distribution.

Now that the cost of distribution has become $0 most have been ignoring this crucial step in the process. The biggest shift in our culture made by the Internet is that it allows information to be distributed worldwide at basically zero marginal cost to the publisher.

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Question: What do you have to add? 

Comment:   #1 I think works for the online world as well. The internet has unlimited shelf space for products and services. The numbers of places (groups, blogs, social communities, forums, etc.) you have to build brand awareness for the cost of sweat equity is amazing. #4 is also a good reminder that success doesn’t revolve around what happens in the white house, but what happens in your house (mind).
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Question:  How do you set up a perfect Linkedin profile? What is the most important part of the Linkedin profile?

Comment:   In my opinion, the most powerful social media profile you can use is the LinkedIn profile.

Most powerful that is, if you are looking to do more business and/or achieve your professional goals.

For me it starts and ends with the headline

Headlines are everything in newspapers, magazines, and on blogs.

They are just as important on your LinkedIn profile, because the headline is the first thing that shows up anytime someone does a search online.
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Question: What are your thoughts?

Comment:   Eventually, every industry will start offering customers not only convenience but convenience that fits into their lifestyle. And our phones are ingrained into our lifestyle.The world of the soft—the world of intangibles, of media, of software, and of services—will soon command the world of the hard—the world of reality, of atoms, of objects, of steel and oil, and the hard work done by the sweat of brows. Iron and lumber will obey the laws of software, automobiles will follow the rules of networks, smokestacks will comply with the decrees of knowledge.

The Missing Layer in AI: Why Judgment, Not Just Data, Will Define the Next Era of Intelligence

By Patrick McFadden • May 2, 2025
Everyone is scaling outputs. Almost no one is scaling judgment.

Everyone Talks About AI Judgment. We Built It.

By Patrick McFadden • May 2, 2025
Ask anyone in tech where AI is headed, and they’ll tell you: “The next leap is reasoning.” “AI needs judgment.” “We need assistants that think, not just answer.” They’re right. But while everyone’s talking about it, almost no one is actually shipping it. So we did. We built Thinking OS™ —a system that doesn’t just help AI answer questions… It helps AI think like a strategist. It helps AI decide like an operator. It helps teams and platforms scale judgment, n ot just generate output. The Theory Isn’t New. The Implementation Is. The idea of layering strategic thinking and judgment into AI isn’t new in theory. The problem is, no one’s been able to implement it effectively at scale. Let’s look at the current landscape. 1. Big Tech Has the Muscle—But Not the Mind OpenAI / ChatGPT ✅ Strength: Best-in-class language generation ❌ Limitation: No built-in judgment or reasoning. You must provide the structure. Otherwise, it follows instructions, not strategy. Google DeepMind / Gemini ✅ Known for advanced decision-making (e.g., AlphaGo) ❌ But only in structured environments like games—not messy, real-world business scenarios. Anthropic (Claude), Meta (LLaMA), Microsoft Copilot ✅ Great at answering questions and following commands ❌ But they’re assistants, not advisors. They won’t reprioritize. They won’t challenge your assumptions. They don’t ask: “Is this the right move?” These tools are powerful—but they don’t think for outcomes the way a strategist or operator would. 2. Who’s Actually Building the Thinking Layer™? This is where it gets interesting—and thin. Startups and Indie Builders Some small teams are quietly: Creating custom GPTs that mimic how experts reason Layering in business context, priorities, and tradeoffs Embedding decision logic so AI can guide, not just execute But these efforts are: Highly manual Difficult to scale Fragmented and experimental Enterprise Experiments A few companies (Salesforce, HubSpot, and others) are exploring more “judgment-aware” AI copilots. These systems can: Flag inconsistencies Recommend next actions Occasionally surface priorities based on internal logic But most of it is still: In early R&D Custom-coded Unproven beyond narrow use cases That’s Why Thinking OS™ Is Different Instead of waiting for a lab to crack it, we built a modular thinking system that installs like infrastructure. Thinking OS™: Captures how real experts reason Embeds judgment into layers AI can use Deploys into tools like ChatGPT or enterprise systems Helps teams think together, consistently, at scale It’s not another assistant. It’s the missing layer that turns outputs into outcomes. So… Is This a New Innovation? Yes—in practice. Everyone says AI needs judgment. But judgment isn’t an idea. It’s a system. It requires: Persistent memory Contextual awareness Tradeoff evaluation Value-based decisions Strategy that evolves with goals Thinking OS™ delivers that. And unlike the R&D experiments in Big Tech, it’s built for: Operators Consultants Platform founders Growth-stage teams that need to scale decision quality, not just content creation If Someone Told You They’ve Built a Thinking + Judgment Layer™… They’ve built something only a handful of people in the world are even attempting. Because this isn’t just AI that speaks fluently. It’s AI that reasons, reflects , and chooses. And in a world that’s drowning in tools, judgment becomes the differentiator. That’s the OS We Built Thinking OS™ is not a prompt pack. It’s not a dashboard. It’s not a glorified chatbot. It’s a decision architecture you can license, embed, or deploy— To help your team, your platform, or your clients think better at scale. We’ve moved past content. We’re building cognition. Let’s talk.

We Found the Missing Layer AI Has Been Waiting For

By Patrick McFadden • May 2, 2025
In every era of innovation, there’s a silent bottleneck—something obvious in hindsight, but elusive until the moment it clicks. In today’s AI-driven world, that bottleneck is clear: AI has speed. It has scale. But it doesn’t have judgment . It doesn’t really think . What’s Actually Missing From AI? When experts talk about the “thinking and judgment layer” as the next leap for AI, they’re calling out a hard truth: Modern AI systems are powerful pattern machines. But they’re missing the human layer—the one that reasons, weighs tradeoffs, and makes strategic decisions in context. Let’s break that down: 1. The Thinking Layer = Reasoning with Purpose This layer doesn’t just process inputs— it structures logic. It’s the ability to: Ask the right questions before acting Break down complexity into solvable parts Adjust direction mid-course when reality changes Think beyond “what was asked” to uncover “what really matters” Today’s AI responds. But it rarely reflects. Unless told exactly what to do, it won’t work through problems the way a strategist or operator would. 2. The Judgment Layer = Decision-Making in the Gray Judgment is the ability to: Prioritize what matters most Choose between imperfect options Make decisions when there’s no clear answer Apply values, experience, and vision—not just data It’s why a founder might not pursue a lucrative deal. Why a marketer might ignore the click-through rate. Why a strategist knows when the timing isn’t right. AI doesn’t do this well. Not yet. Because judgment requires more than data—it requires discernment . Why This Is the Bottleneck Holding Back AI AI can write. It can summarize. It can automate. But it still can’t: Diagnose the real problem behind the question Evaluate tradeoffs like a founder or operator would Recommend a path based on context, constraints, and conviction AI today is still reactive. It follows instructions. But it doesn’t lead. It doesn’t guide. It doesn’t own the outcome. And for those building serious systems—whether you’re running a company, launching a platform, or leading a team—this is the wall you eventually hit. That’s Why We Built Thinking OS™ We stopped waiting for AI to learn judgment on its own. Instead, we created a system that embeds it—by design. Thinking OS™ is an installable decision layer that captures how top founders, strategists, and operators think… …and makes that thinking repeatable , scalable , and usable inside teams, tools, and platforms. It’s not a framework. It’s not a chatbot. It’s not another playbook. It’s the layer that knows how to: Think through complex decisions Apply judgment when rules don’t help Guide others —human or AI—toward strategic outcomes This Is the Missing Infrastructure Thinking OS™ isn’t just about better answers. It’s about better thinking—made operational. And that’s what’s been missing in AI, consulting, leadership development, and platform design. If you’re trying to scale expertise, install judgment, or move from tactical to strategic… You don’t need a faster AI. You need a thinking layer that knows what to do—and why. We built it. Let’s talk.
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