The step nobody automates first

When you were a kid, playing had no objective. The point was the process, not the result. Nobody played to gain efficiency.

Automation does exactly the opposite: it takes a process that worked and repeats it without friction, variation, or error. Brilliant for scaling what you already know. Terrible for discovering what you don't know yet.

Brands that automate too early become very good at doing the same thing. The problem is the market never stops changing. Optimizing an answer that's already outdated is an elegant trap.

Play first. Optimize after. In that order.