Book review - Human Skills in the Age of AI: Insights for Local Government Leadership

Having just finished Andrea Iorio’s Between You and AI: Unlock the Power of Human Skills to Thrive in an AI-Driven World, I was struck by how directly its core thesis applies to public sector governance and workforce transformation.

Iorio presents a compelling blueprint for navigating digital transformation across three critical dimensions: cognitive, behavioural, and emotional. Rather than viewing artificial intelligence as an existential threat to human labour, the book argues that AI should be seen as a new tool, just as the printing press was a new tool. When the printing press emerged, it didn’t replace human thought or authority; it democratised information, expanded access to knowledge, and fundamentally shifted human effort toward synthesis, evaluation, and higher-order reasoning. AI represents an identical evolutionary leap.

For operational leaders, thriving alongside AI requires shifting our day-to-day behaviours in three vital ways:

1. Shift from Execution to Critical Evaluation

Instead of relying on AI to perform our thinking, workers must adopt the mindset of an editor and auditor of AI output. In local government—where compliance, fairness, and public trust are paramount—the key behaviour is rigorous verification: validating context, challenging algorithmic bias, and ensuring public policy decisions remain anchored in human judgment.

2. Embrace Experimentation over Friction Resistance

Rather than treating AI as a fixed solution, workers need to treat it as an interactive thought partner. Adapting effectively means building hybrid workflows—testing prompts, iterative refinement, and actively exploring how automated tools can absorb routine processing so staff can focus on high-touch community engagement.

3. Double Down on Uniquely Human Capabilities

AI can synthesise vast amounts of structured data, but it cannot navigate complex stakeholder politics, exercise empathy, or establish community trust. The behaviour workers must double down on is relational leadership—leveraging emotional intelligence, nuanced communication, and ethics where machines simply cannot add value.

The Bottom Line

AI won't replace professionals, but professionals who effectively leverage AI will replace those who don't. By adopting the right behavioural framework, we ensure technology serves as a powerful force multiplier for our teams and our communities.

 

Silence at the Dairy

Sitting at the Pyengana Dairy Farmgate Café in Tasmania’s lush north-east, I was captivated by the surroundings—the rolling green pastures, happy cows wandering past the scenic deck, and the rich, earthy aroma of traditional cloth-matured cheddar ripening in the cellar below. Yet, my attention was drawn toward the adjacent table.

A couple sat in heavy silence. The man, in his early thirties, quietly ate his gourmet paddock-to-plate lunch, while his partner, in her late twenties, stared down at her manicured nails. Silent tears streamed down her cheeks. They had clearly reached an impasse—a sharp argument on the road, perhaps born from accumulated exhaustion or unspoken fears that spilled over mid-journey. Encapsulated in their grief, they were entirely oblivious to the idyllic country paradise wrapping around them.

It made me reflect on how easily love can be derailed by moments of miscommunication. Travel, though romantic, often lays bare raw vulnerabilities. They had arrived here bruised and distant, separated by an invisible wall.

Yet, there was reason for hope. Fittingly, Pyengana is an Indigenous word meaning "the meeting of two rivers". Much like two turbulent streams that clash before merging into a calmer, unified flow, relationship storms often clear the path for deeper understanding. The woman did not walk away, and he chose to stay at the table. Even in silent grief, they remained together.

As I finished my cheese tasting board, I hoped that the serene magic of Pyengana—watching the cheesemakers at work or sharing a quiet moment over local ice cream—might eventually soften the tension. Sometimes, taking a breath in a peaceful place is all it takes for two diverging paths to meet once again.

Shalom,

Ozhamada

Vegan sausages - Bunnings

The advertisement on a Fcaebook page checked out as being fair dinkum. I'll report back after attending this Sunday.

 

Shalom,

Ozhamada

Review of a novel, 'Sound Mind Dead body' by Dave Warner – a collection of editing comments part 1

Sound Mind Dead Body was a novel that offered up some curious text. The peak point of amusement comes when the author offers his readers the dimensions of a gardener’s shed. 

To understand this text, you need first understand that a valuable item of jewellery has been lost from the property. A male character named Willets is in search of the jewellery.

“It [a door] creaked slowly inwards, revealing a space no more than six foot high, about eight feet deep and the width of one and a half Willets” (Chapter 7, page 74)

Can someone tell me? What is the equivalent in feet of a Willet? Does one recognise a Willet as being the distance between the gentleman’s shoulders (as would befitting to the width of a shed). Or is a Willet identified to the gentleman’s height? 

Shalom,

Ozhamada

Other humour: 

-              Chapter 4 opens with some of the characters at a town “Shagwell”. In reality, there is no Shagwell; only Shadwell. The author may have had Austin Powers on his mind!

-              In Chapter 10 Willets arrives at a pharmacy with an open soup pail full of tea. He asks the pharmacist to test the tea for evidence of poison, Willets had done well to travel to the pharmacy, with an open soup pail, on his motorbike.

Review of a novel, 'Sound Mind Dead body' by Dave Warner – a collection of editing comments part 3

Sound Mind Dead Body was a novel that offered up some curious text. The curious text first arises in Chapter 1, page 14 (see part 2 of this blog) and then arises again in Chapter 2. Indeed, the first page of Chapter 2 includes:

•  The opening sentence with its personification of the sun: “The sun beat down out of the blue sky as if it had not a care in the world”
• The oddity of the sun being said to not have a care in the world when that is quite logical -  that it is suspended in space quite separate from the world,
• And, that opening sentence is long, assaulting the reader with too many nouns to digest: in turn: the sun, a woman, the lawn, Watkins the grocer, and the buiding’s name Harcrofts.

And then there is also:

• The positioning statement of the location of a beach as “only a couple of hundred yards” back over a character’s shoulder where the author had not first established where the character was standing.
•  And, a reference to a “usually private beach” where beaches tend to be considered private even where the occasional adventurer finds their way onto the beach. 

Opening sentences that are packed with many nouns can work. Some are marvellous (think for instance of the opening sentence of Chapter 1 of Pride and Prejudice). Yet, a reader will recognise a long opening sentence as gimmicky if it is not solid.

Shalom,

Ozhamada

Review of a novel, 'Sound Mind Dead body' by Dave Warner – a collection of editing comments part 2

 Sound Mind Dead Body – a collection of editing comments part 2

Sound Mind Dead Body was a novel that offered up some curious text. The curious text first arises in Chapter 1, page 14.

To understand this text, you need first understand that the named character; Lucas, is a Police deputy. The author is reporting on the directions that a senior officer to Lucas had given to Lucas.

“He’d instructed Lucas not to engage the men if he discovered them but to return to the town until he himself returned.” (Chapter 1, page 14)

Now, there are a few curious features of that text; that “He” gets a good run, with a switching between the “he” that is referred to. That there is the presumption that rogues are “men”. The word “return” is overused. It takes the brain a while to absorb the intended meaning. An alternate version of that sentence is:

“He’d instructed Lucas not to engage the rogues should they be located but instead to return to the town and await his arrival.” 

Shalom,

Ozhamada

Hollywood lends from a Biblical literary device - part 2

Applying the Bible Matrix to Edge of Tomorrow (also known as Live Die Repeat) is a fascinating exercise because the film’s "time loop" mechanic perfectly mirrors the biblical concept of maturation through testing.

In Bull's framework, the hero must move from a "unformed and void" state to a state of "glorified wisdom." Here is the plot of Edge of Tomorrow through the seven-fold Dominion lens:

1. Sabbath (Transcendence)

The Decree of the King: The story begins with a command from a high authority (General Brigham) that Major William Cage cannot escape. Cage is an "empty" man—a PR officer with no real combat experience. He is cast out of his comfortable "heavenly" position and "descends" to the mud of Heathrow, mirroring the Spirit hovering over the chaotic, watery darkness before creation.

2. Passover (Hierarchy)

The Bloody Initiation: On the beaches of Normandy (the "Red Beach"), Cage undergoes a literal baptism of blood. By killing an Alpha and being drenched in its blood, he is "marked." This death/rebirth cycle begins his Passover. He is now under a new, supernatural covenant with time itself, and he must submit to the "law" of the loop to survive.

3. Firstfruits (Life/Environment)

The Training in the Wilderness: Cage meets Rita Vrataski, the "Angel of Verdun," who becomes his priestess and mentor. This stage is about the development of "seed." Cage must spend "forty days" (represented by countless loops) in the wilderness of the training bay. He is no longer a civilian; he is becoming a "firstfruit" of a new kind of soldier, learning to navigate the environment of the battlefield with supernatural foresight.

4. Pentecost (Ethics/Sanctuary)

The Writing of the Law: This is the heart of the matrix, where the hero’s character is refined. Cage and Rita attempt to reach the farmhouse. This stage is about the "Inner Room." Cage moves from wanting to save only himself to truly caring for Rita. He "writes the law on his heart," gaining the wisdom and muscle memory required to move beyond mere survival toward a sacrificial purpose.

5. Trumpets (War/Succession)

The Call to the Final Charge: The "Trumpet" sounds when the visions lead them to the truth about the Omega’s location (the Louvre). The "old guard" (the military hierarchy) fails to listen, so Cage must assemble his own "tribes"—the J-Squad. He uses his "prophetic" knowledge of the future to convince them to follow him into a suicide mission. This is the gathering of the host for the final conflict.

6. Atonement (Judgment)

The Descent into the Deep: The climax takes place in the flooded basement of the Louvre (the "Abyss"). Cage has lost his "covenant sign" (the ability to reset), meaning his next death is final. He must dive into the waters to strike the head of the serpent (the Omega). This is a pure act of substitutionary atonement; he gives his life to judge the alien "false god" and wash away the threat to humanity.

7. Booths (Glorification)

The New Creation: Because Cage successfully destroyed the Omega, its blood triggers one final reset. He wakes up back at the beginning (Step 1), but the world has changed. The "enemy" is defeated before the battle even begins. Cage is now a "Glorified Man"—he possesses the wisdom of a thousand lifetimes but remains an anonymous saviour, ending the story with a smile of "rest" as he reunites with Rita in a world made new.

Shalom,

Ozhamada