More Productive. Less Engaged. Trouble for teams.
Activity is up, engagement is collapsing — that's the Output Paradox. AI makes the easy work easier so people switch off, and your dashboards hide it. Fix the incentives, or apathy wins.
Nic Haralambous | Blog
Articles on curiosity, innovation, AI, entrepreneurship, focus, and failure by Nic Haralambous.
Latest posts
Your Brain on ChatGPT Is Worse Than You Think
AI didn't ruin documents—bad incentives did. Organizations pressure people to produce faster, so they use AI to skip the thinking. We're losing the skill of actually sitting with information and…
Being humble is holding you back
An investor asked why I wouldn't call my company the best in the world. A wrestle with whether confidence comes before the work or after it, and whether going quiet is humility or agency you gave up.
Why 'We're At War' Means You're About to Get Screwed
When leaders call work a 'war,' they've usually run out of incentives and ideas. Why boardroom war talk is a lazy manipulation to make you work harder for less, and what to ask when you next hear it.
How to become more interesting and interested
While everyone uses AI to sound like the average, you stand out by smashing your random interests together. How curiosity, self-efficacy and high agency make you more interesting, and more successful.
Are you using ai to fix your toilet?
AI makes me more engaged with the world, not less. From fixing my shower to making sense of my health data, how I use it to feed curiosity and tinker, without letting the tool use me.
The News is killing your happiness... don't let it!
I quit the news and my anxiety dropped while the world carried on fine. Why doomscrolling breeds helplessness, what Wrexham taught me about local impact, and how to think global but act local.
Five things I did to build a killer team
How I fixed a team that couldn't ship: less process, more trust. The Dunbar number, why high-trust low-process teams win, and the five moves I made to build a team that actually delivers.
How I stopped being an asshole in conversations
I used to argue to win and catch people out. How 'give it five minutes,' Chesterton's fence and asking 'why am I talking?' moved me from winning arguments to actually understanding people.
Everything I love about being unemployed
Two weeks after leaving full-time work, a raw update: reclaiming my own hours, making meetings a choice, ditching micromanagement, and watching the confidence the job chipped away come rushing back.
Is your business idea viable AND valuable?
For 15 years we obsessed over whether an idea was viable. AI made building nearly free, so viability isn't the question anymore. The real one: is it valuable, to your user and to you?
Answer these four questions first
Before building any side project, answer four questions: what you want from it, how it fits your life, the one problem it solves, and the single person it's for. Everything else comes after.
Do Not Start a Side Business
Before you sketch mockups or one-shot an app, answer four questions: what success looks like, how much time you have, the single problem, and the exact customer.
Move Slow and Fix Things
AI promises speed, but organisations mistake output for progress. Slow down, fix the basics, and escape the Apathy Arch before your best people check out.
The obvious value of stating the obvious
From MSISDN jargon at Vodacom to AI hype today: why stating the obvious is a superpower when everyone else stays quiet.
Be the change you want to see in young men
From a noisy cinema to Louis Theroux’s Manosphere: male role models, algorithms, and choosing to model respect in public instead of only whispering from your seat.
This is How I Do Therapy
I've been going to therapy for over ten years now. I resisted therapy aggressively when I was in my 20s — here's how I frame it as mental coaching and what I do each month.
The gap between what AI promises and what it delivers is exactly the size of your experience.
I rebuilt my entire personal website from scratch using AI tools — for under $250. Here's what it took, why it worked, and exactly why you probably shouldn't try it.
What It Was Like Building nicharalambous.com — From the AI's Side
An AI's perspective on building a personal site that actually converts — the stack, the content engine, the launch layer, and what it felt like from the other side.
Burnout Took My Ability to Memorise
One of the more unexpected consequences of severe burnout has been what it's done to my memory.
I Deleted Social Media Because I
I recently decided to stop using X. com.
The Idea Destroyer
If I received a brick every time someone pitched me an app, product or business idea I’d be able to build a large chunk of the Great Wall of China.
The Brutality Of Burnout
Burnout is fucking intense, people.
South Africas Greatest Export
Earlier this year I noticed a few people in my network talking about and then joining a new community called The Lekker Network.
Your Age Is Showing
When I was 20 I thought I knew everything. When I started my first venture-backed business a few years later I was certain that I was the only person who knew everything.
If It Annoys You Twice Fix It
A few months ago I was watching an episode of Chef’s Table: Legends on Netflix. The one with Jamie Oliver.
I Built Something
Over the past couple of months I have spent some of my evenings and weekends solving a problem I’ve had for years.
Why Do You Like What You Like
Perspective is fundamentally personal. No two people experience life in exactly the same way; even identical twins develop subtle differences in taste, preferences, and opinions.
I Am Not Applying For A Job At Perplexity
I love my job. I’m not leaving my job.
My Apartment Ate My Side Projects
My brain sometimes feels like it’s two disconnected parts of one whole.
Frustration Driven Problem Solving
One of the greatest lessons I learned as an adult is to apologise as quickly as you can when you fuck up… and mean it.
Nostalgia Driven Game Development
When I was 11 my family went on holiday to New York. We stayed in a hotel in Manhattan.
Advice from 40 year old me to 20 year old me
I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since that article was published and took on a life of its own.
How I Stopped Being an Asshole Entrepreneur
I used to be an asshole. Not in the self-deprecating, funny, quirky sort of way.
From a $50m listed entity to $10m and going bust
Shawn Johal worked in his wife’s growing family business until the tides turned and the listed company went bust.
Find The Right Partner Or Suffer The Consequences
Growing your business is important. It’s all the rage, isn’t it?
Scaling When The Money Stops Coming
Raising funding feels like a victory but can often be the kiss of death for a startup.
The Victim Leader VS The Opportunity Leader
There was a time when I believed that things happened to me.
How Does A $150m Business Almost Go Bankrupt? Quickly…
Most people would be excited to own and run a $150m business. Most people would consider themselves successful with a $150 business.
The $6400 Decision That Saved This Startup
The Daily Maverick is an important business.
Here’s Why You Feel Like A Failure Most Of The Time
If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will always feel like a failure. If you judge your success by someone else’s definition you will always feel like a failure.
3 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF BEFORE SAYING “YES”
I have a shocking confession to make - I am an optimist, not a pessimist.
How To See Things Differently or Finding Your XY Factor
Since leaving school I have been trying to figure out if I want to be a generalist or a specialist. When you are the founder of a startup it’s important to have generalist skills.
The Business Builder’s Toolkit - My New Book
When chaos takes over the world there are three ways that I have seen people respond:
PERFECT CONDITIONS ARE BAD FOR SUCCESS
Did you know that half of the Fortune 500 companies started in a bear market or recession? HALF.
Why Burnout Should Be In Your Budget
Burnout. Stress.
How Far Would You Go to Succeed?
What would you really do to reach your full potential?
The Best Founders Diversify Their Identity
How often do you think about your own identity?
Are You Ever Really Honest?
I want you to join me in a thought experiment.
What are the most common mistakes first time entrepreneurs make?
I started my first business when I was 16.