Point of View Is the Soul of the Story
Why your lens, not the lens, is everything
A camera without a photographer is just a machine.
It can capture what’s there. But not what matters.
Because what matters is where you’re standing.
What you choose to zoom in on. What you leave out.
What you feel when the shutter clicks.
That’s point of view.
It’s how I see the world, not just through words and coaching, but through the lens of my own photographs, too.
Every frame, like every conversation, is a choice: what to hold, what to let fall away, what truth wants to be seen.
And in a world increasingly generated, templated, and flattened by sameness, point of view is what still makes something alive.
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Rick Rubin put it this way:
“AI gives you the ability to take your ideas, feed it into this machine, and then get back different iterations that, normally, you would do, but it would take you much longer… it’s more of a modeling process.”
Modeling. Not meaning.
Iterations. Not intuition.
He’s not anti-AI. Far from it. He sees the utility. The potential.
But he’s also clear about the line AI can’t cross:
“When it comes to AI on its own, [Rubin] is confident it won’t eclipse human creators and talent since it lacks point of view.”
And that’s the heart of it.
Point of view isn’t just a perspective, it’s a pulse.
It’s what turns noise into narrative.
It’s what separates the algorithmic from the authentic.
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AI can riff.
It can remix.
It can replicate taste, tone, even timing.
But it doesn’t care.
It doesn’t ache.
It doesn’t long.
Point of view requires friction. History. Desire.
It comes from your body of experience, not your body of data.
From the choices you’ve made, and the ones you regret.
From how you see the world, and what you’re willing to say about it.
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We forget this in the rush to scale.
We optimize, automate, A/B test the soul out of things.
And wonder why it all feels like filler.
But the work that lingers, the kind that makes people feel something…
comes from someone who risked showing us how they see.
Not how it should be seen.
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Point of view is not opinion.
It’s not performance.
It’s not about being loud.
It’s about being clear.
Clear in your lens.
Clear in your why.
Clear in your “I don’t care if it’s trending, I still see it this way.”
And this doesn’t just apply to art.
It applies to leadership.
To presence.
To how you speak in a room, write an email, design a product, tell a story.
Without point of view, you’re just relaying facts.
With it, you’re revealing truth.
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Think about the people you trust.
The ones who magnetize you.
They’re not perfect. They’re particular.
You know how they think.
You can hear them in your head.
Because they’ve made their internal coherence visible.
And that coherence creates safety, energy, and resonance.
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Point of view is a responsibility.
It asks you to decide.
To choose what matters.
To say “this is the angle I’m taking,” even when it’s not the easy one.
It’s not about being right.
It’s about being rooted.
Because in a time where infinite versions of anything can be generated,
what we’re starving for is a real take.
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So here’s the invitation:
Stop defaulting to the safe thing.
The filtered thing.
The “what everyone else is doing” thing.
Make your work weirder. Sharper. More you.
Let your scars shape your sentences.
Let your history bend the frame.
Let your contradictions color the canvas.
That’s the thing AI can’t fake.
And it’s the only thing we’ll remember.
Stay human,
Bryan
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You are reading BEing Human, a weekly newsletter about an honest exploration of trust and leadership from the bestselling author of Human-to-Human and Shareology, 3x CEO of Silicon Valley companies, and TEDTalker. Written by Bryan Kramer, an executive coach, mentor, and board advisor. Bryan walks with leaders and teams who have lost the plot and want it back.
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‘With it, you’re revealing truth’- I love this. It’s a great piece, Bryan. Both of us work to help people re-ignite- nice to find a co-conspirator in goodness. I love your writing.
Thank you for sharing—this resonated with me as I think of the use of AI in scientific writing. You are so right, there is no replacement for the person behind the camera or the observer. Even in a formulaic setting, I am encouraging mentees (many of whom are young physicians) to think of scientific writing as a time to be creative, put their unique perspective on data analysis, to have fun. AI is tempting but authenticity is freeing. Thank you again.