When everyone zags, I want to know what happens if we zig

I have a slightly difficult relationship with received wisdom.

The second everybody agrees something is definitely the future, part of my brain immediately goes, “Is it though?”

This is not always helpful.

Sometimes everybody is right.

But I am fascinated by the speed at which ideas become unquestionable.

Every brand needs Gen Z. Everyone needs AI. Everyone needs a personal brand. Everyone needs to be purpose-led. Everyone needs to optimise. Everyone in this category talks this way because this is how the category works.

Maybe.

But what happens if the opportunity is somewhere else?

This is something I’m thinking about a lot with AI at the moment. The whole world is racing towards more automation, more content, more speed, more productivity, more AI embedded into absolutely everything.

My instinct is increasingly to look in the other direction.

What becomes scarce because of that?

Human interaction? Attention? Judgement? Slowness? Trust? Physical experiences? Things that aren't optimised?

I don't yet know.

But that's the point.

Zigging for the sake of being different is just another kind of lazy thinking. I don't want to automatically disagree with the consensus.

I want to understand what assumptions the consensus is built on and what might become true if those assumptions change.

Sometimes the opportunity is exactly where everybody is heading.

And sometimes, when everyone is staring in the same direction, the most interesting thing you can do is turn around and see what they're missing.