For a long time, when making things was expensive, the scarce skill was the ability to produce them. Time, resources, technology and expertise limited how much we could create. Now, in many industries, the cost of producing something has fallen dramatically. We can generate more content, more ideas, more products and more options than ever before. And that changes where the value sits. I think when generation becomes cheap, judgement becomes priceless. The challenge is no longer simply producing something. It is knowing what is worth producing, what is good, what is useful, what is relevant and what should be ignored.

Look at what happens when a product or service becomes cheap to produce. The market can quickly become flooded with options. The differentiator becomes the person, team or organisation capable of recognising quality and separating what is valuable from what is merely available. And perhaps that is one of the defining skills of the next economy: not our ability to create more, but our ability to recognise what deserves our attention.