Bonsai Communications Blog

Hold On, Let Me Overthink This

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 19:28:48 GMT

In business as in life, complexity is not doing you any favors.

A couple of weeks ago, I caved - big time. I started playing a couple of daily LinkedIn games.

I played one; it took 12 seconds. I came in second place against some of my connections who are much more accomplished than me in real life. And that was on the first try! (Take the wins where you can, right?)

I discovered my favorite was the Mini Crossclimb. If you aren't familiar, it's kind of like a cross between a crossword and Mastermind. (I'll spare you the details, because they're beside the point.) The real point is that I slayed at that game for all of about two days.

But then something funny happened - I got worse.

Instead of focusing on the clues in front of me, I found myself looking at the other words I'd already guessed, trying to get one step ahead. I started thinking about words I'd used in the past. My mind started wandering to what the final two-word answer might be.

I went from running on instinct to overthinking. And it happened fast.

In Business, As In Life...

Something similar happens when you're building (or joining) a company - especially in high tech. Out of the gate, you immediately see/categorize/distill the business value. You win your first customers.

But then you start going deeper. Really understanding the tech. Pushing its limits to see what it can do. Exploring other ways it might help customers - perhaps even pushed there by customers themselves. I believe the technical term is "drinking the kool-aid."

Suddenly, something you started into clear-eyed gets more complex and nuanced. And actually, that nuance is beautiful and exciting. It's where innovation happens, and it's what makes innovators stick with a company over time.

The problem is that this nuance begins seeping into your communications. Your one or two line value prop turns into an overly-technical web as all of your "benefits" fight for attention. When you try to streamline that value prop again, you end up watering it down with values that any company can claim - like "save time and cost" or "simplifies XYZ".

The Messaging Crossroads

At this inflection point, companies typically go one of two ways:

Supersize Tech Support - Call up the smartest people in the room: the top execs and team building your product. These are the people that understand your product better than anyone else. The problem? They understand your product better than anyone else. They aren't seeing through the fresh eyes of someone new to your brand.
Abstract To Oblivion - Overly focus on the high-level benefits of using your product (see the "save time and cost" example above). Benefits aren't the value you provide. They may be the end result, but they are not what makes your product valuable . Prospects may look at your boilerplate and still have no idea what you offer.

Needless to say, neither extreme makes for great messaging. Often they even do more harm than good. In the best case, you confuse time-strapped executives so they put you on a back-burner (which they'll never have time to revisit). In the worst case, they write you off completely - which is a larger hurdle to overcome.

What In The Comms Should We Do?

Yes indeed, this is where trusted communications counsel should come in with a wide-angle lens. The deep tech is important, and so is the high-level benefit. Somewhere in the middle is your value statement. Comms people spend their careers training themselves to see that forrest through the trees - without just calling it all green.

As you may have gleaned from my Mini Crossclimb analogy, overthinking is one of the biggest pitfalls I see with tech companies. They know too much, and so their messaging starts from there. It leaves the real-world buyer behind. There's a reason they call it a buyer "journey" - you just can't expect them to see what you're seeing right away.

Messaging is one example of where this plays out, but it has implications across the board. It might look like:

Random Acts Of PR - Putting out press releases expecting them to make news where there is none. Expecting journalists or prospects to care about something just because that the spotlight is flattering at that angle.
Blogging For Blogs' Sake - Blog posts are overly technical, serving customers more than prospects. They're navel-gazey, serving ego rather than audience.
The Website Reno - Overhauling your website (yet again) in the hopes that a restructure will shift your brand perception. Adding more, or conversely, taking away too much.

These all come from a legitimate need for clarity and understanding. To make your brand and its value known. But when you know too much, it's easy slip into overthinking. That's where real comms strategy makes a valuable difference. Helping guide others to see the thing you're building through your eyes.

I have another analogy like this about parent-teacher conferences, but I'll save that for another day.

If you stuck with me until now, thank you for reading to the end! For more insight into the mind of a comms person, you can subscribe my Substack newsletter, Cultivated.

P.S. Thanks to my mom for the t-shirt. She is a true icon.

When Knowledge Is A Commodity, Authority Is The Edge

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 00:49:44 GMT

Does your brand need less content and more humanity?

We need PR. We need case studies. We need an executive platform.

These are the phrases comms leaders hear most. And here's what they have in common: They are " whats ."

Tactics, yes. The nuts and bolts of a communications plan, yes. But when you go a layer deeper and ask why, there is usually a (slightly confused) thoughtful silence. Isn't that just what you do to grow?

Companies that reach this stage know their stuff. They’ve built incredible products and solved complex problems. But the rest of the world hasn't caught up yet. They are shouting into a void, hoping that a mention in a major publication or a viral LinkedIn post will magically grant them the trust they deserve. In reality, they have an authority problem .

The stakes for building that trust have never been higher. We are living in an agentic world where AI is commoditizing knowledge at a breakneck pace. When facts, data, and technical how-to guides can be generated in seconds by a bot, knowing things is no longer a competitive advantage.

The new currency of business isn't information. It's connection, genuine authority, and a sharp Point of View (POV).

So, how do you bridge the gap between being an expert and being an authority? How do you build a brand that resonates when the noise is louder than ever.

1. Crystalize Your POV - The "Why," Not The "What"

The biggest mistake brands make is confusing their product features with their perspective. Your POV isn't captured by a list of what your platform does. You need to take a stance on why and how your industry, the status quo, needs to change.

In an AI-saturated market, customers don't want to take in another brain dump of technical ins and outs. They want to understand the value. If you’re selling a security tool, don't talk about encryption protocols; talk about why the current philosophy of data privacy is fundamentally broken. Stop explaining the engine and start describing the destination.

2. Lead with Humanity

There’s a reason we call it tons of content "noise." High-volume, SEO-driven (or GEO-driven) filler is being swallowed and regurgitated by AI. (Sorry to be graphic.) To stand out, you have to lean into what a machine cannot replicate: humanity.

Now, I love a good puppy photo as much as the next person, but leading with humanity doesn’t mean always crossing over into your personal life or sharing photos of your lunch. It means showing why your leaders are industry architects. Authority signaling comes from personality-driven storytelling and sharp, sometimes controversial, perspectives. When your executives show up with a human face and a clear conviction, they stop being company management and start being true thought leaders.

3. Build Proxy Trust

Why do we trust a brand we’ve never used? Usually, it's because someone we do trust has given them the nod. This is proxy trust, and it is the shortest path to legitimacy.

In an agentic world, your orbit matters. You don't build authority in a vacuum, you build it through:

Loyal Customers: Who can vouch for your impact.
Strategic Partners: Who align their reputation with yours.
External Validators: Analysts, media outlets, and influencers who "get" your value.

The secret to raising your own profile is often to raise theirs. When you highlight the success of your partners and customers, their reflected light shines back on you. The rising tide really does raise all boats.

4. The Power of "Being There"

It sounds counterintuitive in a digital-first era, but physical presence is the new premium.

Yes, your presence at a conference is expensive. Yes, hosting an intimate dinner is time consuming. But in a world of deepfakes and automated outreach, "face-to-face" has spiked in value. You can't automate a handshake, and you can't hallucinate a coffee meeting. In-person interactions are the ultimate proof of authenticity.

TL;DR

If your communications strategy is focused on the "what," you’re playing a losing game against the machines. AI can write your press releases, but it can't build your reputation.

Authority is something you earn by being human, being present, and having something worth saying. When knowledge is commoditized, it's more important that the world trusts you enough to listen.

An Anti-Slop Missive: Why 'Good Enough' in Bulk is a Brand’s Greatest Risk

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 19:04:27 GMT

Let's start by addressing the elephant in the room: Your communications team is freaked out.

“Guys I've have never been this scared before.”

That’s how our group chat started on the middle of a Friday. Insert the latest massive layoff news here.

“Anyone else grappling with the agentic dread?”

It almost went without saying. It’s been 3.5 years since ChatGPT launched, and every industry and role is examining their value in a new light.

An hour later, our chatter died out with no conclusions reached. I wasn’t one of the fearful ones, but the discussion did make me think “why.” The unknown is scary. Why am I not existentially scared? (Career-wise, that is.)

Pros & Cons: The Writing Trap

For the sake of brevity, let’s boil this down to what I’d argue is #1 use case in our field: writing. Yes, it’s time consuming. But it’s also vital for growing ideas.

AI is a world-class condenser but a mediocre creator. While it’s tempting to view it as a productivity miracle, it comes with a blandness tax that many teams are unknowingly paying.

The Pro: AI is the ultimate blank page killer. For technical teams, it bridges the gap between depth/complexity and a readable paragraph. It plays into their strengths and helps round out what might be their weaknesses. For comms pros, it’s a research assistant that doesn’t mind your menial asks, capable of pulling industry research, stats, and examples in seconds.
The Con: AI content is formulaic by design, and mindless by requisite. It can string together grammatically flawless sentences that say absolutely nothing. It lacks taste, subtext, and original POV - the three things that actually move audiences.
The Risk: Treating Claude the LLM like Claude the marketing intern. Because AI makes writing look easy, it validates the dangerous delusion that anyone can do comms. It turns strategic storytelling into a commodity. If you aren’t careful, your brand starts sounding like a lukewarm bowl of corporate oatmeal.

AI can simulate intelligence, but it cannot simulate intent. If you aren’t reading every word it spits out with a skeptical eye, you aren’t editing - you’re just distributing slop. You’d be surprised at how many people do this. (Or maybe you wouldn’t.)

Doing It Right: You’re a Human - Prove It.

With writing as with many other facets of comms, the goal isn’t to outsource your thinking, it’s to use AI to accelerate your unique perspective. If you want to build authority, you can’t let the algorithm be the driver.

A few golden rules for your consideration:

Always Input Originality. AI is only as good as the raw ore you feed it. Don’t ask it to “write an article about X.” Instead, feed it your specific interview notes, your unique data and experiences, and your controversial take, then ask it to structure those specific thoughts.
Spend Your Value Tokens Wisely: Your value isn’t in typing, it’s in the strategy. Use AI to fill in the low-level blanks - summarizing meetings, condensing an interview, or drafting basic structure to follow - so you can spend your mental energy on the high-stakes nuances: the impactful takeaway, the emotional hook, and the technical accuracy.
The Preciousness Balance: Don’t be a perfectionist who refuses to use the tool, but don’t be a lazy sender who hits publish on the first draft. There’s a sweet spot where you use AI to iterate, then apply a human polish that ensures the piece actually has a soul.

The New Barrier to Entry

Back to the main point - here’s where I netted out. The real “agentic dread” isn’t just about jobs disappearing, it’s about the devaluation of expertise. The fear is that leadership will trade “great” for “good enough” because good enough is free and fast.

I’m an optimist, but we also have to address the widening skills gap. If AI can perform at the level of a junior staffer for a fraction of the cost, the entry-level rung of the career ladder is effectively on fire. Who will invest the time to train a human communicator when an algorithm is plug and play?

Survival in the age of AI slop requires us to be more than just wordsmiths. We have to be curators, strategists, and truth-checkers. Lean in on quality and authority. Sometimes, the most professional thing you can do is realize the AI draft is a dead end, cut your losses, and start over with a better prompt. Or better yet, a blank page and a human brain.