{"id":151667,"date":"2026-04-30T10:18:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T08:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/?p=151667"},"modified":"2026-04-30T10:18:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T08:18:15","slug":"what-we-are-reading-696","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/?p=151667","title":{"rendered":"what we are reading"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"922\" height=\"1383\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ledger.jpg?resize=922%2C1383&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-151668\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ledger.jpg?resize=922%2C1383&amp;ssl=1 922w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ledger.jpg?resize=768%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ledger.jpg?resize=920%2C1380&amp;ssl=1 920w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ledger.jpg?w=1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 922px) 100vw, 922px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-amazon wp-block-embed-amazon\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"THE TRUST LEDGER : Why Some Brands Compound While Others Quietly Disappear (The Compounding Advantage series Book 2)\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"922\" height=\"550\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"clipboard-write\" style=\"max-width:100%\" src=\"https:\/\/read.amazon.com\/kp\/card?asin=B0GX31YGXS\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>There is a meeting that happens in every commercial organisation, in slightly different language, every quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Someone presents the numbers. The numbers are good \u2014 or at least good enough. Acquisition is up. The campaign delivered. The cost-per-acquisition is within target. The slide has green arrows. Somebody says <em>solid quarter<\/em> and the conversation moves to next quarter&#8217;s plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At no point does anyone in the room ask the only question that actually matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What did it cost to produce these numbers, in a currency the dashboard does not measure?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That question is not asked because there is no template for asking it. There is no slide for it. There is no metric, no attribution model, no performance framework in the standard marketing toolkit that would allow a competent CMO to walk into a board meeting and answer it. So the question stays unasked. The quarter closes. The numbers are filed. And somewhere, in the data nobody is looking at, something has moved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That movement is the subject of this essay. And it is the subject of a book I have just published, called <em>The Trust Ledger.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There is a meeting that happens in every commercial organisation, in slightly different language, every quarter. Someone presents the numbers. The numbers are good \u2014 or at least good enough. Acquisition is up. The campaign delivered. The cost-per-acquisition is within target. The slide has green arrows. Somebody says solid quarter and the conversation moves to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[503],"class_list":["post-151667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-other-stuff","tag-books"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":151757,"url":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/?p=151757","url_meta":{"origin":151667,"position":0},"title":"Why your best campaign quarter was probably your last efficient one","author":"thebrainbehind","date":"20\/05\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Your best campaign was also the last campaign where your tactic fully worked. You just didn't know it yet. Here's what actually happens to every marketing tactic over time. It starts working because there's a gap: you know how the mechanism works, your audience doesn't. That gap is the leverage.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;all other stuff&quot;","block_context":{"text":"all other stuff","link":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/infographic_decay_curve-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/infographic_decay_curve-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/infographic_decay_curve-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/infographic_decay_curve-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/infographic_decay_curve-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/infographic_decay_curve-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":149679,"url":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/?p=149679","url_meta":{"origin":151667,"position":1},"title":"Korn Ferry Talent Acquisition Trends 2026 Human-AI Power Couple","author":"thebrainbehind","date":"12\/11\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"via","rel":"","context":"In &quot;trends&quot;","block_context":{"text":"trends","link":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/?cat=162"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screenshot-2025-11-12-at-12.10.51.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screenshot-2025-11-12-at-12.10.51.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screenshot-2025-11-12-at-12.10.51.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screenshot-2025-11-12-at-12.10.51.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screenshot-2025-11-12-at-12.10.51.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screenshot-2025-11-12-at-12.10.51.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":148696,"url":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/?p=148696","url_meta":{"origin":151667,"position":2},"title":"The Tariff Apocalypse: When Politics Becomes Your CMO","author":"thebrainbehind","date":"29\/09\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The new Chief Marketing Officer of America\u2019s biggest brands doesn\u2019t sit in Madison Avenue boardrooms. It sits in Washington. And it doesn\u2019t care about brand love, market share, or cultural relevance. It cares about tariffs. This summer, General Motors reported a $1.1 billion tariff hit. 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The Pandemic Years \u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re All in This Together!\u201d 2020 changed everything.Or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;all other stuff&quot;","block_context":{"text":"all other stuff","link":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screenshot-2025-10-29-at-11.08.48.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screenshot-2025-10-29-at-11.08.48.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screenshot-2025-10-29-at-11.08.48.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screenshot-2025-10-29-at-11.08.48.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13520,"url":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/?p=13520","url_meta":{"origin":151667,"position":5},"title":"Charlie Brown: I got a rock","author":"thebrainbehind","date":"30\/10\/2010","format":false,"excerpt":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=5tIhwITwhSg I got five pieces of candy!\" \"I got a chocolate bar!\" \"I got a quarter!\" Charlie Brown: \"I got a rock.\" :-)","rel":"","context":"In &quot;videos&quot;","block_context":{"text":"videos","link":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/?cat=193"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/5tIhwITwhSg\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=151667"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":151669,"href":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151667\/revisions\/151669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=151667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=151667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=151667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}