Making the landscape intelligible again.

Strap yourself in - it's going to be something of a very. interesting. ride. this year. 

Not just business. Not just tech. But societally. And it's going to impact everything. 

As a professional "pattern-spotter" and sense-maker, I routinely bring together strategy, decades of experience, and intuition to form hypotheses about what the next 18 months are likely to hold.

And each time I’ve trusted that instinct and articulated it clearly, well ahead of the curve -  I later find myself looking back at old emails and thinking, “Yes. That’s exactly what I saw coming" I’m always glad I said it when I did.

Some of the stuff I'm seeing for the next 18 months is freaky - a lot of it is positive, and making the world a better place, and I'm excited for it - because I'm the glass-half-full type of person - and because the strategist side of me sees opportunity everywhere.

But there’s another part of me that knows some things are going to intensify before they ease. In some domains of life and business. I'm not going to dwell on that here - don't need to be a negative-nancy for the first email of the year - so for now, I’ll focus on this belief: that after an intense season of exponential change - and the fallout and lessons that come with it - things do get better.. 

That said, we are still going to have to go through and experience what's on the bingo card for us this year, and probably next - in order to get to that place. And to move through it wisely - protecting our cognitive capacity, mental health, relationships, and sense of purpose along the way

Despite the fact we're in for a wild ride this year (I can't decide if rocky road is more apt, or a roller coaster ride is more apt - maybe both!) - personally I'm seeing so much clarity come through the chaos. 

If you’ve been receiving my emails for a while, you might know I spent about nine months last year on bedrest during a period of physical recovery. It was a really interesting and pivotal time of being able to take it slower, and really observe what was going on - not just at a surface level - but at the human psyche level - and how that is impacting our business and world and what it means for us this year. 

(my recovery season was followed by a strong end-of-year surge of energy where I created, implemented, and brought a lot to life very quickly - and I'm very grateful for that!)

So the new year was a great recalibration - and for this January - as per usual - I decided it's time yet again to go off the grid and think and process deeply for a bit. Zoom out from the day to day and week to week - and think deeply about what these big behavioural shifts actually mean, and what we need to do differently as a result.

Because I could see the shifts. I could name the patterns. I could even articulate what we need to do to adapt. Even after months of thinking, mulling, and sitting with it, I still couldn’t quite see how all these things -  the whole landscape fit together in a way that felt genuinely useful - not just interesting.

And that matters to me.

Because talking about what’s changing is one thing. Helping people understand what those changes mean - and what to do differently so they’re set up for the future and preserve their sanity - is another kettle of fish entirely.

What began as key observations for my bi-annual Marketing Insights Report turned into a much deeper recalibration - one that’s given me more clarity and conviction than I’ve felt in a long time.

Not just around platforms, tactics, or shifting consumer behaviour but around the whole system.

Making the landscape intelligible again.

What I thought would take me a couple of days to prepare has taken me a solid week - and then some. 

But it also gave me a huge internal shift I didn't know I needed - but I'm beyond grateful for, because the perspectives and articulation that came as a result, will translate into genuinely relieving, game-changing clarity and action for me

I’m finishing the report now, and I’ll share it shortly.

And I look forward to unpacking a lot of fresh, interesting and useful insights and perspectives here over the coming weeks and months.

All through a simple lens: is it easy to understand, straightforward to apply, and genuinely useful? Because my brain is as busy as yours - and I know what it’s like to feel too full to take in more. That’s why my passion is to make these things as accessible and refreshing as possible.

Hope your Jan is going well - thanks for being here - look forward to connecting over the year.