What I think about when I think about wisdom.

When I was younger, I never thought about wisdom. It wasn’t a word in my vocabulary, nor something I sought out. I didn’t even associate it with people I admired—I just didn’t consider it at all.

But more recently, in the past few years, I have noticed that it sits in the back of my mind, and often moves forward, like an alert, when I read something, or am speaking to someone, and then I file the phrase or comments away in the Wisdom folder.

Maybe it’s a result of getting older.

When I was young, I focused on acquiring knowledge, developing a craft, and accumulating a wide set of experiences. Thinking about it now, I was more driven to become encyclopaedic, and would often joke about possessing a lot of “Gee Whiz” information—facts, figures, and clever insights that felt impressive in the moment. But now, I find myself drawn to something different. I focus less on accumulation and more on distillation, meaning, and consequences. Instead of just knowing, I want to understand. Instead of breadth, I seek depth. And instead of just being precise, I now think in terms of being sort of poetic—finding meaning in the spaces between the facts, in the way things connect, rather than just in the things themselves.

I think this, to me, is where wisdom sits.

So, dear reader, you may at this point find yourself wondering “Why is he even writing about this?” I believe that my industry, the media and advertising world, has forgotten about wisdom in pursuit of data, speed, optimisation, purpose, conversion, engagement, and all the other buzzwords we use to prop up the things we do. I don’t recall ever a time when I sat through a briefing or brainstorming and used or heard the idea of “wisdom” in any part of the sessions.

Maybe it’s an age thing.

With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone. - Oscar Wilde

Just because someone has lived a lot of years doesn’t mean that person is wise. It takes reflection, a willingness to question one’s own beliefs and the humility to admit what you don’t know. Wisdom isn’t just a byproduct of time—it’s the result of experience examined, mistakes learned from, and perspectives widened.

My industry is infatuated with youth over experience. It’s rare to find anyone in their 5th decade sitting at the table unless they are trying to close a deal, and they wheel out their most senior staff to indicate something like “We have over 280 years of experience that we can bring to your challenge.” And then of course they hand the project over to the junior team to resolve. That is just a fact of the economics of big agencies. And don't think I am against young talent. I am continually inspired by and learning from those decades younger. I am not that "get off my lawn guy." Yet.

We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us. – Marcel Proust

Wisdom isn’t instant—it takes time to develop and even more effort to recognise. But where does it fit in a world that moves fast? I can’t pinpoint when it started to matter to me. It wasn’t a single moment, but rather a slow realisation. One day, I found myself drawn to certain writings, phrases, and people—not because they were smart, or old, but because they carried something deeper. I’ve never pointed at someone and said, ‘Oh, she’s wise.’ But I’ve come to recognise the wisdom in the way someone speaks, in how they handle conflict, in how they teach, in the words they choose both said and unsaid, or in the actions they have chosen not to take. I have found wisdom in the work of people like Sir John Hegarty with his approach to storytelling, Debbie Millman and her depth in understanding what is a brand, the way Mark Ritson writes about strategic clarity. I find it in Dave Trott 's no-BS approach to creative problem-solving, and Sophie Devonshire?? 's way of thinking about leadership. With the exception of Mark, all of these people have written books that don't just occupy space on my bookcases, but are often re-read. I do hope Mark writes a book at some point.

I am hoping that more people begin to consider wisdom as an important aspect that helps inform the work they do. And if wisdom comes with age, we will need to find ways to stay connected with the aging knowledge workers. Many cultures have a role for that – the sage, the elder, the shaman. If you live in Singapore, you may have been told to “Ask the Uncle”, in Africa, you would speak to the Griot, in the Polynesian cultures you would seek out advice and guidance from the Pākehā. When I work in the area of developing bi-directional knowledge transfer between emerging talent and those of a certain age, I have heard such terms being thrown about like “Silver Sages” or “Geezers” or “Graybeards”, and even the term “Boomer” is loaded with subtext that makes one dismiss an older viewpoint. But this is where the wisdom will come from. Also, lets figure out a way to drop those labels. They just get in the way.

There is a humility that comes with age and experience. Wisdom isn’t something you claim for yourself—it’s something others might recognise in you, if at all. And even then, it’s not a fixed state; it’s fluid, evolving with every new lesson learned and every old assumption challenged. I don’t see myself as wise—I’m just an old guy who knows some things. But I do think I have some knowledge I can hand over. Some of those things came from years of trial and error, others from listening more than speaking. And more often than not, I’ve learned that the moment you think you have all the answers is the moment you prove you don’t.

The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions. – Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

The Holmes quote reminds me of the many new people I have met in the past couple of years since I first began talking about the idea of ageism and advertising. I have found my entire social graph shifting toward more thoughtful people, people who have deep experience in their chosen craft, and the emotional intelligence to use and share that experience when considering a challenge. People that I might consider as holding a certain level of wisdom in the way they approach life and work.

I don’t believe wisdom is about knowing everything; it’s about knowing what truly matters. It’s not about moving fast—it’s about moving with intention. And in an industry obsessed with disruption and reinvention, maybe we should pause and ask: What are we actually building? What are we leaving behind? And who are we learning from?

If we continue to equate value with youth alone, we risk losing something irreplaceable. The insights that come from experience, the depth of thought that emerges from years of reflection, and the ability to see the bigger picture—these are not skills that can be rushed, outsourced, or automated. They are cultivated. And they are deeply human.

So maybe it’s time to bring wisdom back into the conversation—not as a relic of the past, but as an essential force in shaping the future. That means recognising it, valuing it, and creating space for those who carry it. It means fostering workplaces where knowledge isn’t just transferred downward but exchanged in all directions. It means resisting the urge to dismiss perspectives simply because they come from those who have been around longer.

Because in the end, wisdom isn’t just about age—it’s about awareness. About curiosity. About knowing that no matter how much we’ve learned, there’s always more to understand. And if we’re willing to seek it out, to listen, and to learn, we might just find that wisdom isn’t in short supply—it’s been here all along, waiting for us to notice.