Book Brew 194: My Coffee Machine Had Three Warnings...My Brain Had None

My coffee machine beeped at me (a lot). It even raised its little red flag to say Full.

I heard water pouring out of the back… but it didn’t register what the sound was.

And I kept filling it.

I was recovering from a migraine attack and operating in that delightful (*sarcasm) brain fog where my body was present, but my executive function had apparently gone to browse for more capybara videos.

The result was a flooded countertop and a coffee machine that had more water than I wanted.

If you read my earlier coffee catastrophe (yes, this is a separate incident), I guess you could say I am developing a series…while entertaining for some, probably not how coffee should be made.

(Would you believe me if I told you the same thing happened about a week later??? At least that time I realized how I can empty excess water out of my machine…gotta find the lil nuggets of wisdom in my chaos)

The warning existed, yet it didn’t stop the water

It would be easy to end this story with “I should have paid more attention.”

Sure. Excellent. Great. Put that on a red laminated sign (that no one will read anyways) and watch absolutely nothing improve.

I knew how to fill the machine. I knew what the beep meant. And I was having an off day.

“Attention is scarce and fragile.” - Cal Newport

We build an awful lot of business processes as though everyone has an unlimited supply of mental capacity, hoping that:

• someone will notice the warning
• someone will remember the exception
• someone will catch the wrong attachment before sending it

“Someone Will Catch It” Is a Terrible Business Plan

AI tools make it easier to move work through a process quickly.

That speed becomes a problem when the process depends on a squishy, flawed human noticing something subtle before it continues.

Imagine an AI-assisted proposal workflow

• The draft contains an old price, but there’s a note saying the pricing needs confirmation.
• The person reviewing it has three Slack messages pinging, a cell phone ringing, a client waiting, and a headache.
• The warning is technically there.so is the Send button, which is so much easier than reading and editing.

“Have a human review it” needs more detail than that

• What must they check?
• Where is the current price?
• Can the proposal proceed with that field unresolved?
• What happens if they miss it?

A reminder and a required approval step are two very different things, serving two very different purposes.

• A reminder asks for attention.
• A required approval or an automatic stop changes what the workflow can do.

Ask AI to find the places you’re relying on perfect humans

You can use an AI tool to examine your process before you add more automation to it (please, please do this).

Give it:

• the actual steps,
• the instructions people receive,
• and examples of the documents or screens involved.

BONUS MATERIAL

We have several blog posts and videos about how you can use AI to capture your processes

Explain where mistakes have happened or where people routinely get confused.

Then ask it:

Review this workflow for places where success depends on someone remembering a rule, noticing a warning, or interpreting an ambiguous instruction. For each one, explain what could happen if they miss it. Suggest a practical change, such as a clearer instruction, a required field, a confirmation, or a stop before the next action. Prioritize consequential mistakes and avoid adding approval steps everywhere.

That last sentence is kinda key. Nobody needs a twelve-stage approval process to change a blog heading. We have enough administrative nonsense breeding in captivity already.

Look closely at the suggestions (yes, that’s right, I want you to actually read something…perish the thought!).

• AI may misunderstand a step or recommend controls that would create more work than they prevent.
• Have someone who actually performs the task walk through the revised process.

The useful question is: Would this still work when the person doing it is tired, distracted, watching a donkey with a pirate chicken video or recovering from a migraine attack?

Put the pause where it earns its keep

A few possible changes:

• Before an external email: show the recipient and attachment together for confirmation.
• Before a proposal goes out: require confirmation of pricing against the named current source.
• When source documents conflict: pause for a decision instead of letting the AI quietly choose one.
• When required information is missing: identify the missing item and who can resolve it.

“Pain + Reflection = Progress.” - Ray Dalio

The reflection is where the useful work happens.

My coffee machine issued its warnings. My brain failed to process them. My countertop became the incident report.

Your business probably has a few places where a missed signal can keep overflowing, too.

Ponder This

1. Which step in your business depends on someone noticing a warning or remembering an exception?
2. What would happen if they missed it on a bad day?

Books/Newsletters

• Principles - Ray Dalio
• Deep Work - Cal Newport

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