Many of the greatest business and self-help books of all time are woefully outdated.

And I don’t mean the examples used in the books. The working world has changed so much that the underlying assumptions on which the books are based no long apply.

Work hard and get promoted. You’ll make more money.

Move up the ladder for more responsibility, greater impact, and a nicer life.

Specialize in a certain field or department. That’s how you win.

The problem is the ladder is gone. There’s nothing to climb anymore.

Middle managers on are the way out. You’re either a doer or a leader (and often both at the same time).

Specialists are getting replaced by AI. We don’t need as many of them anymore.

Hard work doesn’t really matter much anymore. A computer can work harder, faster, and cheaper than you.

What matters now are remarkable results, unforgettable impact, and connection with other people. And being able to use AI and all the other technology available to us as tools to achieve those three things.

It’s the rare person who stays with one company and gets promoted over and over, making more money each time.

More likely, you’ll bounce around to 15 different companies over your working life, becoming a generalist that can synthesize tons of different fields.

And before you know it, you’re making your own field, your own specialty job that combines everything you’ve learned into something new.

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