The most valuable discovery this year wasn't about technology. It was about measurement. Specifically, the difference between what's easy to measure and what actually matters.

We've all been caught in an interesting trap. Every decision looked sensible in isolation: tighter budgets, more efficient processes, better dashboard metrics. Yet many of us weren't seeing the growth we expected. It reminded me of the old management principle, you get what you measure, not necessarily what you want.

The insight came from revisiting first principles. Marketing fundamentally changes behaviour, and that's never been a cheap or simple task. When we optimise primarily for efficiency, we risk optimising away the very elements that make the work effective. It's like improving a restaurant by reducing ingredient costs, technically rational until you taste the food.

AI's arrival crystallised this for me. It's brilliant at execution and optimisation. Which means the real value increasingly lies not in doing things efficiently, but in knowing which things are worth doing at all; the judgement, the strategic risk-taking, the understanding of human behaviour.

Moving forward, we're being more deliberate about what we measure and why. Balancing efficiency with effectiveness. Investing in capabilities that complement AI rather than compete with it. Focusing on outcomes that matter: genuine brand growth, not just activity metrics.

Sometimes the most profound technology shifts reveal truths that were always there