Focus: The New Currency of Power

‘’Coding is to programming, what writing is to typing’’ - Leslie Lamport, Computer Scientist

I love this quote, and it got me thinking that:

‘’Pattern and speed is to AI, what Van Gogh’s Irises are to human irreplacability”

It encapsulates this article.

The Focus Advantage: Your Indispensable Shield Against AI Displacement

As artificial intelligence rapidly reshapes industries worldwide, the question “Will AI take my job?” is popping up everywhere. It resonates with many, sparking everything from anxiety to defiance, like: “So what? What are we going to do about it?” 

While both reactions are valid, passivity is not an option. Thriving amid AI disruption depends on mastering a principle that powers breakthroughs, from Shanghai to Silicon Valley:

Strategic focus on what makes us uniquely human, but what follows here is not as you have been hearing thus far.

My prediction is that,

What’s often dismissed and/ or overlooked as secondary, that of “soft skills” is now the hardest driver of lasting competitive advantage.

These new “hard skills” drive long-term strategic advantage, talent maximisation, and global competitiveness. Not because they are “nice-to-have,” but because they unlock value that machines fundamentally cannot.

Particularly nuanced context, ethical judgment, and real-world insight beyond algorithms, connecting dots to define vision, guide strategy, and spark innovation. 

In this article, we explore this with a twist…

Photo by Emily Sanburg on Unsplash

A Tale of Two Mindsets: Western Distraction vs. Eastern Focus

Open-mindedness is imperative as you read further, reserving judgment to benefit irrespective of your perspective on China.

Moving from algorithms to geopolitics, Jack Ma (key founder of Alibaba, a $287 billion company expected to reach trillion-dollar status in 2025) delivers a striking “uncomfortable truth”: 

The West’s greatest vulnerability today is not external threats but internal distractions, fragmented focus, and a loss of sustained attention. 

He contrasts this internal chaos with China’s disciplined strategy and relentless focus on long-term goals. Ma describes this as a psychological asymmetry - a contest of discipline, coherence, and focus.

While the West debates and hesitates, China builds and executes, consistently accumulating leverage while others are distracted. In this framing, focus becomes the “currency of power.”        

For professionals, this translates into cultivating a “China-like” focus amid short-term noise, persistently pursuing long-term mastery and carving unique niches. Being a reliable and focused professional builds trust and loyalty, making you indispensable. Sustaining attention on meaningful work over time is a vital emotional muscle.

Morris Chang and TSMC: A Blueprint for Focused Dominance

TSMC’s founder, Morris Chang, exemplifies this mindset in action.

Chang, irritated,  personally called Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang when he learned his sales team failed to respond to Huang’s request for sales service. 

He demonstrated a rare level of responsibility and engagement often missing in the West. TSMC was already a billion-dollar company at this stage, and NVIDIA was small, unknown and on the verge of bankruptcy. 

Jensen Huang stated that their new chip would not only save Nvidia but also make them a major TSMC customer. A bold play from a company facing bankruptcy.

Chang gave him an opportunity, impressed by this boldness.

This trust was tested again in 2009 during TSMC's manufacturing issues for NVIDIA.

Chang, unhappy with how things were being run, returned as CEO, devoted nearly five weeks immersing himself in Nvidia’s pressures before personally offering almost $100 million in compensation to Nvidia, with a swift 48-hour acceptance deadline. 

No lawyers were involved, and the offer was made, not at a Michelin-starred restaurant but over a meal at home of pizza and salad. Huang’s quick agreement showcased how deeply engaged, fair, relationship-driven leadership can preserve business success.

Thus was forged an enduring partnership of today's two most prominent trillion-dollar businesses.

Apple’s Tim Cook contrasted this with Intel’s faltering foundry efforts, citing a lack of trust and customer understanding. This illustrates an enduring truth: prioritising human connection and responsiveness (in a way AI cannot replicate) is key to sustaining competitive advantage.

The Antidote to Trump?  In a geopolitical landscape marked by fractured trust and short-sighted tariffs, these human skills form a stable foundation amid uncertainty — making such professionals not just employable but indispensable.
        

Key Take-away:  The Hard Economics of Human Advantage

The real economic edge comes from relationship capital: trust and loyalty that convert into billions in revenue. Algorithms may process data, but they cannot read unstated needs or navigate complex stakeholder dynamics that underpin genuine partnerships.

The Attention Mechanism: AI’s Gift and Our Guide

''Attention is all you need''

Generative AI’s core strength, the attention mechanism powering transformer models, laid bare in a 2017 paper by 8 Google engineers, titled ‘’Attention is all you need’’, revolutionised AI. It reveals why focused human attention remains irreplaceable.

AI distributes computational effort across data, but human focus centres on context, emotion, and ethics that machines cannot replicate.

Let’s look at this a little closer.

A Circumspect Look at Eastern Philosophy

Eastern business philosophy, emphasising patience and disciplined focus, offers profound insights, but adopting these lessons requires thoughtful evaluation, not blind acceptance. 

Stephen Schwarzman, Founder and Chairman of Blackstone (a company with $1.3 trillion in assets under management), embodies this approach.         

Coincidentally sitting next to Jack Ma on a bus on the way to an event in China in 2015, he listened to Alibaba’s Jack Ma extolling AI’s promise.

Schwarzman didn’t dismiss what he heard. Instead investigated rigorously on his return to the US, not knowing much about AI then, leading to a $300 million donation to MIT’s AI research to push AI further.

This kind of circumspection tempers arrogance and judgment with critical thinking, enabling adaptive integration of Eastern principles alongside Western strengths.

Your Personal Pure Play Strategy

The TSMC model translates into a clear framework for individuals facing AI disruption:

Strategic Differentiation: While transformers replicate selective focus, they lack genuine empathy and creative synthesis. These uniquely human skills unlock opportunities beyond AI’s reach.

Relationship Capital: Building trust creates “switching costs,” making you indispensable amid fractured global relationships.

Growth Mindset: Embracing continuous development, as Carol Dweck’s research suggests, positions you to thrive as AI transforms roles.

Based on this, A New Strategic Focus Framework

Leverage Psychological Asymmetry: Focus is “the currency of power.” While many succumb to distraction and short-term battles, disciplined attention to building influence drives outsized advantage.

Execute Strategic Relationship Building: Move beyond networking. Systematically invest in trust and loyalty that translate to business outcomes — just as TSMC’s reliability undergirds its global dominance.

Master Contextual Intelligence: AI excels at pattern recognition; humans excel at ethical judgment and strategic nuance. Cultivating these skills enhances your competitive edge.

A Collaboration Imperative

The future belongs neither solely to AI nor humans but to professionals who master their collaboration. Focus development on skills AI cannot replace but can enhance: strategic thinking informed by AI analysis, creative problem-solving supported by AI ideation, and relationship building facilitated (not supplanted) by AI.

Conclusion by Looking Ahead: Radical Transparency and Trust in the Digital Age

In the next article, we will explore how radical transparency modelled by Bitcoin’s blockchain and exemplified by leading Western corporations builds unbreakable trust in uncertain times. Just as focused human attention forms the bedrock of personal resilience today, structural transparency is emerging as the organisational shield of tomorrow.

In a world where AI accelerates fraud, deepfakes and disruption, trust becomes ever scarcer. Your success depends not on processing more data faster but on focusing laser-like on the human capabilities that truly matter.