Valuable Friction: How to Reset Your Thinking for 2026
Sun Dec 14 2025
Robert Rose, Founder and Chief Troublemaker at Seventh Bear, a strategic marketing consultancy, wrote the book, Valuable Friction, in which he suggests that we all need to stop chasing the fast lane that AI and automation are driving and take some time to figure out what really drives us and makes us stand apart.
Robert joined us on the final episode of the podcast to talk about what valuable friction is and the four motions of valuable friction: creative, strategic, operational, and relational. We also talked about how you can leverage one or more of these motions to differentiate yourself in 2026.
About Robert
Robert Rose is the Founder and Chief Troublemaker at Seventh Bear, a strategic marketing consulting firm.
He is a fractional CMO and trusted marketing advisor, best-selling author, and founding member of the team that built the Content Marketing Institute into the leading voice for the practice of content marketing.
Over the last decade, he’s worked with more than 500 companies—from ambitious startups to global giants—helping them elevate strategy and build marketing that matters. He leads workshops and keynotes around the world and co-hosts This Old Marketing with Joe Pulizzi, a top marketing podcast with downloads in 150+ countries.
Robert has authored five books on content, strategy, and customer experience, and his Content Marketing Strategy course is the official certification program of the American Marketing Association.
Where You Can Find Robert
Seventh Bear: https://www.seventhbear.com/ Robert Rose Website: Homepage - Robert Rose LinkedIn: (1) Robert Rose | LinkedIn Book Valuable Friction: Valuable Friction - Robert Rose
Check out all 7 seasons of the Content Matters Podcast here: Ingeniux Blog | Ingeniux
See who's coming up in future episodes here: https://info.ingeniux.com/content-matters-podcast
More
Robert Rose, Founder and Chief Troublemaker at Seventh Bear, a strategic marketing consultancy, wrote the book, Valuable Friction, in which he suggests that we all need to stop chasing the fast lane that AI and automation are driving and take some time to figure out what really drives us and makes us stand apart. Robert joined us on the final episode of the podcast to talk about what valuable friction is and the four motions of valuable friction: creative, strategic, operational, and relational. We also talked about how you can leverage one or more of these motions to differentiate yourself in 2026. About Robert Robert Rose is the Founder and Chief Troublemaker at Seventh Bear, a strategic marketing consulting firm. He is a fractional CMO and trusted marketing advisor, best-selling author, and founding member of the team that built the Content Marketing Institute into the leading voice for the practice of content marketing. Over the last decade, he’s worked with more than 500 companies—from ambitious startups to global giants—helping them elevate strategy and build marketing that matters. He leads workshops and keynotes around the world and co-hosts This Old Marketing with Joe Pulizzi, a top marketing podcast with downloads in 150+ countries. Robert has authored five books on content, strategy, and customer experience, and his Content Marketing Strategy course is the official certification program of the American Marketing Association. Where You Can Find Robert Seventh Bear: https://www.seventhbear.com/ Robert Rose Website: Homepage - Robert Rose LinkedIn: (1) Robert Rose | LinkedIn Book Valuable Friction: Valuable Friction - Robert Rose Check out all 7 seasons of the Content Matters Podcast here: Ingeniux Blog | Ingeniux See who's coming up in future episodes here: https://info.ingeniux.com/content-matters-podcast