Relevant. Remarkable. Refreshing.

I’ve worked in marketing for 15 years now, specifically in digital marketing using the lens of content marketing. Before that, I worked nearly full-time as a music critic for several years. I write for a living because I like it, maybe because I’m good at it. I don’t like taking shortcuts. Hashing out the best possible words for a specific situation makes me happy. It gives me purpose. So, in a world overflowing with tips, tricks, tools, and tactics that are allegedly designed to reduce the stress, effort, and time it takes me to create, I run in the other direction as quickly as my overweight body can carry me.

That makes me the ideal audience for Valuable Friction. Written by Robert Rose, one of my favorite marketing leaders, the book dives deep into the whys and hows of doing good, worthwhile creative work. He places a specific focus on the belief that such work requires intentionally making and taking the time to slow down. In a business environment that worships at the feet of mantras like “Move fast and break things,” our author pushes back by advocating for practices that encourage people to pause. He believes that your work can achieve a higher purpose and deeper results when you and your team take the time to reflect on the true reasons of your work instead of engaging in rampant creation for the sake of the algorithm.

Subtitled “How to Deliberately Stand Out in a World Obsessed with Speed,” this isn’t some anti-technology screed. Rose talks plainly about the scenarios in which he uses artificial intelligence, large language models, and other such tools. He’s also not encouraging people to retreat to some sort of panacea where people can create willy-nilly because they want to instead of doing their marketing jobs. He is a pragmatist, a realist – but a very thoughtful one. That’s why he developed a four-fold method that centers creativity, strategy, operations, and relationships. It’s not that all friction is good or that making things as easy as possible is bad. It’s more that creating anything of value or substance takes time, requires purpose, and deserves intentionality. And sometimes, you need to stop and ask a few questions before you ship a new product.