For those of us perfectly content to hunker down at home with our remote jobs — especially marketers who built digital-first strategies after the pandemic — the resurgence of in-person meetings and relationship-building that demands social skills can feel about as appealing as surprise pineapple on a pizza. Yet, whether we enjoy it or not, personal relationships are growing more valuable precisely because information is no longer scarce. What’s truly limited now is trust.
As co-founder of people ops startup Gather, Alex Hilleary kept finding himself telling HR leaders the same thing: “You should really talk to so-and-so.” One person needed guidance on remote work policies, so Alex introduced her to someone who had just figured it out. Another was struggling with equity compensation; Alex knew someone only a few months ahead on that exact issue. He did this for months before realizing he had unintentionally created a community.
What he was doing wasn’t something an algorithm could easily replicate. He was using his own judgment to decide who should meet, based on nuanced problems that don’t fit neatly into categories. That kind of curation — understanding things no line of code can surface — is becoming increasingly valuable.
Judgment and strategy
Marketers are seeing the same dynamic in their own circles. Practitioners don’t just need more information about tactics; they need human judgment about strategy. In a world where AI-generated content is plentiful and inexpensive, human discernment is a key competitive edge. Nothing replaces the hard-earned insight of someone who has already tried what you’re considering and can warn you about the side effects no one talks about publicly.
Dig deeper: A marketer’s guide to what strategy…