Hindsight is always 20/20. Sometimes foresight is, too.

The difference between being wrong and being early

A year ago, I wrote a headline for Meta Glasses: Frames with benefits.

I proposed it as part of a content strategy for the Meta Glasses landing page. Leadership passed.

This week, it showed up in a marketing email to millions of inboxes.

Seeing it made me smile. Then I remembered why product work humbles you: Good ideas don't succeed on merit alone. They succeed when the timing is right.

When I wrote that headline, Meta Glasses were still finding their identity. Were they AI devices? Smart glasses? Wearable technology? The category itself was still taking shape.

"Frames with benefits" reflected a particular point of view. People don't buy glasses because they're technology. They buy glasses because they're glasses. The technology is the benefit.

Today, that idea feels obvious. The marketing for AI glasses on Meta.com and elsewhere leans hard on style, self-expression and fashion. The product has matured. So have the market and the story Meta tells.

The headline didn't change. The context did.

In the moment, a rejected idea looks like a verdict on the idea. A year of distance can turn it into a verdict on the moment. Sometimes the organization isn't ready. Sometimes the product isn't ready. Sometimes the market isn't ready.

And sometimes, a year later, the same idea comes back around.