We're sprinting towards the end of the year. With that, stress and high expectations can lead to anxiety and hurt feelings.
Meanwhile, we just finished the Jewish High Holidays. A few weeks ago was Rosh Hashanah – The Jewish New Year, and this past Wednesday was Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement. The practice around these holidays is a good reminder to take account of where you are and appreciate the blessings around you. It was a reminder to me to sprint towards the end of 2019 with the energy of a new year.
Yom Kippur is a lot like a Catholic confession, but it happens once a year. The service is a mix of contemplation, mindfulness, and contrition. Ultimately, we apologize for the sins we've committed against ourselves, our communities, our friends, and our faith. Also important is the promise to do better next year. On top of repenting, we fast (no food or water) for a full day to make sure we're mindful. In my case, it also made me sleepy (yes, my son caught me sleeping in synagogue ... I'm sorry for that too).
Looks like I still have some work to do.
It's interesting how little human nature has changed in the past several thousand years. The list of sins is just as relevant today as I imagine it was back then. Even if you have managed to stay on the right side of the Ten Commandments, and haven’t killed or stolen … you have most likely been frivolous, stubborn, hurtful, dismissive, or judgmental (I know I have …).
To help drive the importance of the day, we ceremoniously read a poem called the Unetaneh Tokef. Below is a brief excerpt because it's a powerful read, regardless of faith.
On Rosh Hashanah will be inscribed and on Yom Kippur will be sealed how many will pass from the earth and how many will be created; who will live and who will die; who will die at his predestined time and who before his time; who by water and who by fire, who by sword, who by beast, who by famine, who by thirst, who by storm, who by plague, who by strangulation, and who by stoning. Who will rest and who will wander, who will live in harmony and who will be harried, who will enjoy tranquillity and who will suffer, who will be impoverished and who will be enriched, who will be degraded and who will be exalted.
Equally important to recognizing and repenting for your sins, is recognizing and appreciating what you did good as well ... for yourself, your friends and family, or your community.
All-in-all, it's a nice framework that highlights how you have grown; and, it also shows where you have room to grow.
You have one quarter left in 2019 to make it your best year yet. What can you do? What can you do better?
I hope you all experience growth in your mental state, your relationships, and your businesses.
Gartner's 2019 Hype Cycle For Emerging Technologies
Technology is a massive differentiator in today's competitive landscape.
Sorting through predictions of which new technologies are going to impact the world and which are going to fizzle out can be an overwhelming task. I look forward to Gartner's report each year as a benchmark to compare reality against.
Last year, Gartner reported Deep Learning and Biochips were at the top of the hype cycle - in the "peak of inflated expectations." While I'm excited about both industries, there was certainly more buzz than actual improvement in those spaces last year. Excitement almost always exceeds realistic expectations when technologies gain mainstream appeal.
What's a "Hype Cycle"?
As technology advances, it is human nature to get excited about the possibilities and to get disappointed when those expectations aren't met.
At its core, the Hype Cycle tells us where in the product's timeline we are, and how long it will take the technology to hit maturity. It attempts to tell us which technologies will survive the hype and have the potential to become a part of our daily life.
Gartner's Hype Cycle Report is a considered analysis of market excitement, maturity, and the benefit of various technologies. It aggregates data and distills more than 2,000 technologies into a succinct and contextually understandable snapshot of where various emerging technologies sit in their hype cycle.
Here are the five regions of Gartner's Hype Cycle framework:
Understanding this hype cycle framework enables you to ask important questions like "How will these technologies impact my business?" and "Which technologies can I trust to stay relevant in 5 years?"
That being said - it's worth acknowledging that the hype cycle can't predict which technologies will survive the trough of disillusionment and which ones will fade into obscurity.
What's exciting this year?
It's worth noting that in this edition of the hype cycle, Gartner shifted towards introducing new technologies at the expense of technologies that would normally persist through multiple iterations of the cycle; 21 new technologies were added to the list. For comparison, here's my article from last year, and here's my article from 2015. Click on the chart below to see a larger version of this year's Hype Cycle.
This year's ~30 key technologies were selected from over 2000 technologies and bucketed into 5 major trends:
Looking past the overarching trends of this year, it's also fun to look at what technologies are just starting their hype cycle.
AI has been around since the '60s, but technological advancement and increased data mean we are now in an AI spring after decades of stagnation.
Many of these technologies have been hyped for years - but the hype cycle is different than the adoption cycle. We often overestimate a year and underestimate 10.
Which technologies do you think will survive the hype?
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