The Milk Man Theory

How what was once 'SCALE' becomes 'SOUL' over time

Scale vs Soul, our latest book, describes the tension between efficiency and humanity: scale in the age of AI optimizes for reach, speed, and cost, while soul optimizes for meaning, presence, and emotional connection and over time, scale often matures into soul.

What feels industrial and impersonal today might, with time, become meaningful and nostalgic tomorrow. And this is the core of what we call The Milk Man Theory, the idea that what was once a symbol of efficiency and mass distribution can, over time, become something intimate, human, and 'soulful' again.

Let’s take music as a starting point. Vinyl records first emerged in the 1940s and quickly became the standard for distributing music. They were, at the time, a clear example of 'SCALE'. For the first time in history, people could hear a live orchestra or their favorite artist in their living room,without needing to be in the room with the musician. It was revolutionary. Vinyls scaled music in a way that radio and live performance never could. They industrialized sound.

Of course, some critics at the time argued that this would kill the authenticity of music. That nothing could replace the live experience. That records would make music “less real.” But people embraced it anyway, because it made music accessible, repeatable, and personal in a different way.

Then vinyls got replaced. Cassette tapes, CDs, MP3s, and eventually streaming, all more portable, more scalable, more efficient. You could now carry millions of songs in your pocket and stream almost anything instantly. Vinyls were considered outdated. Inefficient, obsolete.

And yet,today, vinyl is back.

Record stores are reopening. Young people are buying turntables. Artists release special edition albums on vinyl, not because it’s practical, but because it feels different. It feels intentional. The crackle of the needle, the weight of the album cover, the act of listening start to mean something again. In a world of infinite access, limitation feels like luxury.

It’s no longer about performance, it’s about presence. Vinyl went from being a symbol of scale to becoming a symbol of soul.

We’re seeing similar trends elsewhere. Take the Kodak throwaway camera. In an age where we have ultra-HD cameras in our pockets and unlimited cloud storage, Gen Alpha is choosing to take 24 random, blurry, light-leaked shots they can’t even see until they’re developed. Why? Because it’s more real. Because it creates anticipation, because it feels more human.

That’s The Milk Man Theory.

Fifty years ago, every morning, a milkman would bring fresh milk to my grandparents’ doorstep. It was efficient for the time, milk was delivered in glass bottles, at scale, across entire towns. Then came hypermarkets and industrial dairy supply chains. Milk delivery disappeared. It was old-fashioned, unnecessary.

But now? Farmers’ markets are back. People are reconnecting with local producers. Some startups are even reviving home delivery, this time with organic labels, refillable bottles, and stories of where the milk comes from. The same milk, delivered the same way, now feels like a premium soulful experience. It’s not about convenience anymore, it’s about connection.

This is the paradox we want you to think about: what starts as 'SCALE' can age into 'SOUL'. 

What feels mass-market today might become tomorrow’s craft. What’s impersonal now might be rediscovered later as personal, meaningful, and full of character. And that’s why you should never write off a model or format just because it no longer feels “cutting edge.” With time, perspective shifts.

So ask yourself: what are we optimizing today that, with enough distance, could become a source of soul again? Where are we stripping away friction now that might, one day, become the magic people miss?

Because in this dance between SOUL and SCALE, sometimes the past becomes the future, and what was once ordinary becomes extraordinary all over again.

This is an excerpt from our book 'Scale vs Soul'

If you want to book me for a keynote on the topic or you want to know more about our new book ‘Scale vs Soul’, go to www.dadovanpeteghem.com