Sam Page
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When you feel compelled to do something

The Friday Takeaway9 min readSam Page

I’ve had a couple of guests on recently, but this week I’m back on my own. And a confession, I video recorded this and had the wrong camera selected. So I recorded my screen, rather than me. Another lesson learnt!!!

If I’m totally honest, I started this week feeling a bit low. A very busy few weeks, not feeling very well, and trying to push through it. I tend to beat myself up a bit when I feel like that, because I really want to turn up for work and be positive for everyone.

So I decided to focus this week on getting a routine back in place. Very much about exercise, giving myself some space in the mornings, and focusing on the priorities without feeling too overwhelmed.

This week

  • Meeting Mark Kennedy. On Tuesday afternoon I sat down with Mark Kennedy, a meeting that will stick with me forever. Mark’s been looking for a job for a long time and has made thousands of applications. I’ve done a separate post about it, which you’ve probably seen. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7513901958915608576/
  • Getting an assistant. I’ve got an assistant to help me with my diary, which people have been telling me to do for ages. Thank you Lee McQueen for recommending an amazing company and pushing me to do it, and thanks Kimberley Struth 🟢 for your amazing help so far.
  • Mentoring with Megan Harvey. My last official mentoring session with Megan, who I’ve been mentoring for the last year through the BIMA (British Interactive Media Association) programme. I’ve learned just as much from her as she’s hopefully taken away from me, and it’s lovely to see how much she’s progressed in a year (not really anything to do with me!).
  • Power users in the right areas. A meeting with one of our clients. The CEO made a really good point, that not all staff need to be using AI more, because some jobs are much more about being in front of people. So it’s about creating more power users in the right areas.
  • Listening in leadership. I had a lovely lunch, as always, with Cyrille Joffre, COO at Sure. I always love our conversations. We talked about listening in leadership, and he said the real problem with talking too much is that you’re only talking about the things you know. Ironic, given I’m doing exactly that on The Friday Takeaway this week.
  • Context switching. One day was a really good example of how much context switching I end up doing. A fireside chat at the Kingston Chamber of Commerce with Forbes Low, then straight into a board resolution, a client deck, and a call about a really innovative joint venture with one of our clients. I can’t talk about that one too much yet!
  • Every job I’ve ever had. I’ve started updating my LinkedIn profile with every job I’ve ever had, because a very curated profile can give pretty much the wrong impression. Right the way back to being a paperboy, and a pot wash in a hotel. Loved the job, it was brilliant!
  • Being a good dad. And last but not least, this morning my daughter gave me three stickers for being a good dad. Which I think means doing what she wanted me to do!

Something I’ve been thinking about

Accelerating in the wrong place

Accenture published their quarterly results this week, showing their best growth in a long time. There’s been a lot of talk that AI is going to replace consulting firms. Accenture’s point is that organisations are at so many different places with AI, there’s so much work to do for experts.

That’s certainly something I see. Most companies are trying to move up that scale, but a lot of the foundations aren’t in place. Really understanding your customers. Data in shape and structured in the right way. Systems consolidated. If you don’t get those bits right and then try to accelerate with AI, you end up just accelerating in the wrong place.

I don’t want this to be a sales pitch, but it’s the reason we developed the 7Cs framework at 7DOTS. If you just rely on generative AI, you get very generic results. The people getting it right are combining real in-depth human expertise with AI on top, with the right foundations in place.

How is our system supporting younger people?

The Financial Times had a really interesting article this week about the fact we have more jobs than ever, while youth unemployment is still high and going up.

I was talking about this at an event last week, looking at the Milburn report. It’s very easy to jump to the fact that young people are the problem here. The report puts it down to the system they come up through. The system’s broken.

And I know I’ll probably get some pushback on this, but I think as employers it’s constantly our job to ask, how is our system supporting younger people? Yes, people need a level of resilience. But if future generations are looking for a different way for work to happen, it’s our job to facilitate that in a way that works for people and business. Otherwise, we’re not going to attract younger talent. I'm very proud that we're attracting younger talent at 7DOTS.

Do read the Milburn report if you haven’t. I’m not going to lie, it is depressing in parts. But if we don’t lean into stuff like this, we’re not going to make it better.

Muse, Instinct and Dots

Personal agents are increasingly landing in my ears. In the last few weeks Meta launched Muse, Instinct was valued at $10 billion, and OpenAI very quickly followed with Dots. There’s a lot of negative feedback that they’re not very good, or certainly not very sticky, which I think is just a reflection of where AI is at.

There’s also a lot of talk about the data Meta is capturing. It’s an opportunity for more relevant advertising, but there’s also a real risk of manipulation, because they’ll have intent data to a large degree. Which is why I’m so proud of my involvement with Pippa Labs and the work we’re doing there on sovereignty of data.

Blocking the agent means blocking your customer

I’ve been reading and reasearching companies blocking agents. Amazon has blocked Muse from checking out, over security concerns. Walmart blocked agents by accident, with a CAPTCHA they can’t get through.

As people use agents to do tasks for them, that agent effectively becomes an extension of your customer. If it can’t transact through your experience, you’re essentially blocking your customer.

The decision usually sits with IT security teams, acting in the best interest of security, and it’s not their fault. They’re just not working with marketing and sales, who are trying to open services up to more people. I’m writing a separate article on this at the moment.

My take

AI agents are in their immaturity. I’ve tried the different ones, and they’re great initially, but they’re quite limited in what they can do and I’ve sort of stopped using them. I mentioned getting an assistant earlier. I wouldn’t get these agents to do 99% of what Kim does for me. It needs a human touch, that complex understanding of human interaction.

But for very low value, mundane tasks, a personal agent is probably going to start picking stuff up for people. So if you haven’t tried one, I’d recommend giving them a go. Just be very, very cautious with the data you give them, personal information and especially financial information, because it’s still relatively uncharted territory.

A lesson from the week

A bit of humour and a bit of humility

Missy Clements, 7DOTS Chief of Staff, and I were talking this week about some quite tricky feedback we’d had. A complicated situation, with no simple solutions.

As she was talking to me about it, she was laughing. She said, “I’m really sorry I’m laughing. If we don’t have a bit of humour in this, and a bit of humility, I don’t know how we’ll get through it.”

She was spot on. So I spent the next two days trying to bring a lot more humour to situations, and I felt so much better for it.

Change your context

It’s a lesson I get all the time. If you’re stuck in a spiral in how you’re thinking, or a pattern in how you’re acting, you’ve got to change your context and do something different to shift it. It always works when you do it.

That’s what I did this week. I started it feeling a bit low, so I leaned into the things I know make me feel on purpose, like the conversation with Mark Kennedy and clients. And by the end of the week, I’m feeling super recharged.

The Friday Takeaway

If you want to do something and you feel compelled to do it, especially when it’s helping someone else, just get on and do it.

I’m the worst at letting a fear or a worry get in the way, and I think it comes from the fact I used to be very shy. I’ll think about someone I want to help, whether it's an individual or a client, and wonder what everyone’s going to think / or question.

Try to put that all to one side. Yes, take a considered approach, and when you do, you will feel so much better for it and you will have had a positive impact on everyone around you as a result.

Before you go

I’ve done enough talking for one morning, so I’ll end on a question. What’s something you’ve wanted to do recently, but didn’t? Or did, and felt better for it?

Next week I’ll be back with Mark Kennedy, who wants to tell his full story himself. I can’t wait, there’s probably going to be tears. Mark, sending you my best wishes as always. I hope something comes from the posts and you get the job you deserve.

Until next week...

And please do drop me a response to my questions above, or simply like / follow if any of this is interesting.

The Friday Takeaway

If you want to do something and you feel compelled to do it, especially when it’s helping someone else, just get on and do it.

First published on LinkedIn.

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GEThttps://sam-page.com/thinking/when-you-feel-compelled-to-do-something.mdtext/markdown; charset=utf-8

---
title: "When you feel compelled to do something"
url: https://sam-page.com/thinking/when-you-feel-compelled-to-do-something
date: 2026-10-09
author: Sam Page
type: The Friday Takeaway edition
categories: [The Friday Takeaway]
reading_time: 9 min
summary: "I’ve had a couple of guests on recently, but this week I’m back on my own. And a confession, I video recorded this and had the wrong camera selected. So I recorded my screen, rather than…"
takeaway: "If you want to do something and you feel compelled to do it, especially when it’s helping someone else, just get on and do it."
first_published: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-you-feel-compelled-do-something-sam-page-q8gze
---

# When you feel compelled to do something

I’ve had a couple of guests on recently, but this week I’m back on my own. And a confession, I video recorded this and had the wrong camera selected. So I recorded my screen, rather than me. Another lesson learnt!!!

If I’m totally honest, I started this week feeling a bit low. A very busy few weeks, not feeling very well, and trying to push through it. I tend to beat myself up a bit when I feel like that, because I really want to turn up for work and be positive for everyone.

So I decided to focus this week on getting a routine back in place. Very much about exercise, giving myself some space in the mornings, and focusing on the priorities without feeling too overwhelmed.

### This week

- **Meeting** Mark Kennedy**.** On Tuesday afternoon I sat down with Mark Kennedy, a meeting that will stick with me forever. Mark’s been looking for a job for a long time and has made thousands of applications. I’ve done a separate post about it, which you’ve probably seen. <https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7513901958915608576/>
- **Getting an assistant.** I’ve got an assistant to help me with my diary, which people have been telling me to do for ages. Thank you Lee McQueen for recommending an amazing company and pushing me to do it, and thanks Kimberley Struth 🟢 for your amazing help so far.
- **Mentoring with** Megan Harvey**.** My last official mentoring session with Megan, who I’ve been mentoring for the last year through the BIMA (British Interactive Media Association) programme. I’ve learned just as much from her as she’s hopefully taken away from me, and it’s lovely to see how much she’s progressed in a year (not really anything to do with me!).
- **Power users in the right areas.** A meeting with one of our clients. The CEO made a really good point, that not all staff need to be using AI more, because some jobs are much more about being in front of people. So it’s about creating more power users in the right areas.
- **Listening in leadership.** I had a lovely lunch, as always, with Cyrille Joffre, COO at Sure. I always love our conversations. We talked about listening in leadership, and he said the real problem with talking too much is that you’re only talking about the things you know. Ironic, given I’m doing exactly that on The Friday Takeaway this week.
- **Context switching.** One day was a really good example of how much context switching I end up doing. A fireside chat at the Kingston Chamber of Commerce with Forbes Low, then straight into a board resolution, a client deck, and a call about a really innovative joint venture with one of our clients. I can’t talk about that one too much yet!
- **Every job I’ve ever had.** I’ve started updating my LinkedIn profile with every job I’ve ever had, because a very curated profile can give pretty much the wrong impression. Right the way back to being a paperboy, and a pot wash in a hotel. Loved the job, it was brilliant!
- **Being a good dad.** And last but not least, this morning my daughter gave me three stickers for being a good dad. Which I think means doing what she wanted me to do!

### Something I’ve been thinking about

### Accelerating in the wrong place

Accenture published their quarterly results this week, showing their best growth in a long time. There’s been a lot of talk that AI is going to replace consulting firms. Accenture’s point is that organisations are at so many different places with AI, there’s so much work to do for experts.

That’s certainly something I see. Most companies are trying to move up that scale, but a lot of the foundations aren’t in place. Really understanding your customers. Data in shape and structured in the right way. Systems consolidated. If you don’t get those bits right and then try to accelerate with AI, you end up just accelerating in the wrong place.

I don’t want this to be a sales pitch, but it’s the reason we developed the **7Cs framework at 7DOTS**. If you just rely on generative AI, you get very generic results. The people getting it right are combining real in-depth human expertise with AI on top, with the right foundations in place.

### How is our system supporting younger people?

The Financial Times had a really interesting article this week about the fact we have more jobs than ever, while youth unemployment is still high and going up.

I was talking about this at an event last week, looking at the Milburn report. It’s very easy to jump to the fact that young people are the problem here. The report puts it down to the system they come up through. The system’s broken.

And I know I’ll probably get some pushback on this, but I think as employers it’s constantly our job to ask, how is our system supporting younger people? Yes, people need a level of resilience. But if future generations are looking for a different way for work to happen, it’s our job to facilitate that in a way that works for people and business. Otherwise, we’re not going to attract younger talent. I'm very proud that we're attracting younger talent at 7DOTS.

Do read the Milburn report if you haven’t. I’m not going to lie, it is depressing in parts. But if we don’t lean into stuff like this, we’re not going to make it better.

### Muse, Instinct and Dots

Personal agents are increasingly landing in my ears. In the last few weeks Meta launched Muse, Instinct was valued at $10 billion, and OpenAI very quickly followed with Dots. There’s a lot of negative feedback that they’re not very good, or certainly not very sticky, which I think is just a reflection of where AI is at.

There’s also a lot of talk about the data Meta is capturing. It’s an opportunity for more relevant advertising, but there’s also a real risk of manipulation, because they’ll have intent data to a large degree. Which is why I’m so proud of my involvement with Pippa Labs and the work we’re doing there on sovereignty of data.

### Blocking the agent means blocking your customer

I’ve been reading and reasearching companies blocking agents. Amazon has blocked Muse from checking out, over security concerns. Walmart blocked agents by accident, with a CAPTCHA they can’t get through.

As people use agents to do tasks for them, that agent effectively becomes an extension of your customer. If it can’t transact through your experience, you’re essentially blocking your customer.

The decision usually sits with IT security teams, acting in the best interest of security, and it’s not their fault. They’re just not working with marketing and sales, who are trying to open services up to more people. I’m writing a separate article on this at the moment.

### My take

AI agents are in their immaturity. I’ve tried the different ones, and they’re great initially, but they’re quite limited in what they can do and I’ve sort of stopped using them. I mentioned getting an assistant earlier. I wouldn’t get these agents to do 99% of what Kim does for me. It needs a human touch, that complex understanding of human interaction.

But for very low value, mundane tasks, a personal agent is probably going to start picking stuff up for people. So if you haven’t tried one, I’d recommend giving them a go. Just be very, very cautious with the data you give them, personal information and especially financial information, because it’s still relatively uncharted territory.

### A lesson from the week

### A bit of humour and a bit of humility

Missy Clements, 7DOTS Chief of Staff, and I were talking this week about some quite tricky feedback we’d had. A complicated situation, with no simple solutions.

As she was talking to me about it, she was laughing. She said, “I’m really sorry I’m laughing. If we don’t have a bit of humour in this, and a bit of humility, I don’t know how we’ll get through it.”

She was spot on. So I spent the next two days trying to bring a lot more humour to situations, and I felt so much better for it.

### Change your context

It’s a lesson I get all the time. If you’re stuck in a spiral in how you’re thinking, or a pattern in how you’re acting, you’ve got to change your context and do something different to shift it. It always works when you do it.

That’s what I did this week. I started it feeling a bit low, so I leaned into the things I know make me feel on purpose, like the conversation with Mark Kennedy and clients. And by the end of the week, I’m feeling super recharged.

### The Friday Takeaway

If you want to do something and you feel compelled to do it, especially when it’s helping someone else, just get on and do it.

I’m the worst at letting a fear or a worry get in the way, and I think it comes from the fact I used to be very shy. I’ll think about someone I want to help, whether it's an individual or a client, and wonder what everyone’s going to think / or question.

Try to put that all to one side. Yes, take a considered approach, and when you do, you will feel so much better for it and you will have had a positive impact on everyone around you as a result.

### Before you go

I’ve done enough talking for one morning, so I’ll end on a question. **What’s something you’ve wanted to do recently, but didn’t? Or did, and felt better for it?**

Next week I’ll be back with Mark Kennedy, who wants to tell his full story himself. I can’t wait, there’s probably going to be tears. Mark, sending you my best wishes as always. I hope something comes from the posts and you get the job you deserve.

Until next week...

And please do drop me a response to my questions above, or simply like / follow if any of this is interesting.