The Japanese Art of Shuhari (Mastery in the Age of AI)

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The Japanese Art of Shuhari:
Mastery in the Age of AI

There’s this old Japanese idea I came across some 6 years ago.

A simple one. Timeless, actually.

It’s called Shuhari — a three-stage progression of mastery that has since become a cornerstone to my transformation, both personally and professionally.⚡

And the more I study the future of work —

The more I’m convinced that not only are most people stuck in the wrong stage ⤵️

Let’s break this down..

1. SHU — Learn the Rules
(Now on Fast-Forward)

Shu is the apprentice stage.

For centuries, this took years.

Today?

AI compresses this stage to minutes. 🤖

You want to learn:

There’s a GPT for it.

It’s beautiful… while at the same time it isn’t.

Because Shu is also where most people stop.

But here’s the twist:

Shu is necessary. But in this AI era, Shu is crowded. 📚

And sameness is THE Silent Killer.

2. HA — Break the Rules
(The Stage AI Can’t Fake)

Ha is rebellion. Separation. Taste. Discernment.

It’s where you start questioning the frameworks. 🤔

You break a few. You remix the rest.

And you start sounding like you — finally, not the textbooks.

This is where most people think they are.

But let’s be honest: Most of what passes for “originality” today is just… a slightly rewritten ChatGPT output.

Which is also why this stage matters now more than ever:

Ha requires:

Without Ha, people remain trapped in digital cosplay — performing expertise instead of earning it. 🚨

But when you cross the bridge?

Something interesting happens…

3. RI — Become the Rules
(The Only True Moat Left)

Ri is transcendence. You stop following the experts.

Not because you’re loud or because you’re everywhere.

But because your work carries a signature 💡—

That’s the mix that changes everything.

Ri in the AI era looks like this:

And this is where your moat finally appears.

Again, not because you’re the fastest or the smartest… 👨💻

But because you’ve built a body of work AI can learn from — but never fully become.

That’s mastery. The type that leads to true leverage.

So what does Shuhari mean for the Future of Work?

A lot, actually.

It means the people who rely purely on AI for speed will get stuck in Shu — forever.

It means the people who cultivate taste will thrive in Ha — experimenting with identity and ideas. 🛠️

And it means the people building:

Will become the ones AI agents recommend, cite, surface, and trust.

Remember.. we’re entering a world where:

And agents don’t follow noise. They follow signal. 🛰️

Your signal.

If… You’re Intentional.

The Real Question..❓

In a world moving this fast, ask yourself — honestly:

Because in the simplest of words:

And the future belongs to those who move through these stages with intention — not speed.

That’s all for today folks!

See you next week.

PS — If this issue resonated, the book’s going to hit even harder. Volume 1 of the Your Move, Human series launches soon. 🙈🙌

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Until then —
It’s check ♞ but not mate (not yet).
Your Move, Human.