Changing the Temperature Back to Journal →

Saturday, February 22, 2025

I recently presented this thermometer vs. thermostat idea to my team, and it’s been bouncing around in my head ever since. In our world of digital marketing consulting (where we’re buried in dashboards, campaign metrics, and content performance reports) it’s easy to fall into the trap of just measuring things.

Early in my career, I did that a lot. I was basically a walking thermometer: tracking numbers, building clean reports, and moving on. But real impact comes when you shift into thermostat mode: when you actually use the data to adjust, influence, and optimize.

That shift takes critical thinking. It’s the active ingredient that transforms “here’s what happened” into “here’s what we should do.” Without it, we’re just reading the room. With it, we’re changing the temperature.