04/03/2026
๐ง๐ต๐ผ๐บ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ผ๐ปโ๐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐๐ฟ๐ฒ.
๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐น.
In 1869, in his early twenties, Edison patented an โElectrographic Vote Recorder.โ It allowed legislators to cast a vote instantly using an electrical switch. The totals appeared immediately. No slow roll calls. No manual counting.
When it was demonstrated in Washington, Congressional leaders rejected it.
They did not want to speed up voting.
Slow voting gave them time to persuade, negotiate, obstruct and influence. The slowness wasn't a flaw in the system. It was fundamental to the system.
Edison later said this experience shaped his entire career. He stopped inventing things that were merely clever. He started inventing things people wanted rather than needed.
๐๐'๐ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
Because in most systems, what looks inefficient from the outside is often doing a job you donโt yet understand.
And when you improve the wrong thing, the result isnโt progress.
I see a version of this inside established businesses all the time.
Marketing activity increases.
Tools improve.
Reporting becomes more sophisticated.
Yet growth feels harder than it should.
Not because nothing is happening.
But because the adjustment is being made in the wrong place.
The assumption is that performance is limited by effort, creativity or channel choice. So more gets added.
Edison learned at 22 that before improving a system, you have to understand what the system is actually optimised for.
๐ ๐ผ๐๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐๐ปโ๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ปโ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต.
It stalls because no one has properly identified what is actually restricting revenue.
That is a huge commercial difference.
Iโve written a short breakdown of what this typically looks like in practice, beginning with a simple question... "Do you know which parts of your marketing are making sales?".
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