Open minded action - Grappling with nuance

Last week we established that almost nobody is happy with the state of their enterprise technology, and that the economics of "just building it yourself" are less favorable than most people assume. Even in this era of the great AI surge. I also promised to resurface the technology decision-making framework I first developed while serving as Chief Digital Architect for the Province of BC.

I’ve decided to postpone that till next week. First, I want to lay some foundation, and call out a commonly skipped over need. One that’s been amplified in the era of AI assisted writing, and propagated by the “it’s not that it’s this” writing hook. (Spoiler: It’s actually both.)

The skill nobody talks about

The most important capability in technology decision-making — and honestly, in leadership generally — isn't technical knowledge. It's the ability to hold two seemingly opposed things in mind at once and accept that both are true. (And, yes… technical knowledge is still very important!)

I call this grappling with nuance. And in my experience, it's rarer than it should be.

You've heard the red flags:

• "Don't bother me with the details."

• "Speak more plainly."

• "We've determined this isn't a technology problem — why are we still talking about the technology?"

That last one deserves some unpacking, because it's the one I encounter most often and it's the one that causes the most damage.

"This isn't a technology problem" - and why that's not the whole story

Ninety-nine percent of the time, that statement is technically correct. The technology is working as configured. The real issue is usually stakeholder alignment, unclear ownership, or organizational friction. We’ve all seen it.

But "this isn't a technology problem" gets interpreted - consciously or not - as "the technology doesn't matter." And that's where things go sideways.

Technology choices have consequences. They make things harder or easier, more or less possible, more or less costly. Ignoring technology while solving an organizational problem is like ignoring the foundation while renovating the house. You can do it - right up until you can't.

The nuanced truth is both things at once: it's not a technology problem AND the technology still requires consideration. Collapsing that into one simple answer doesn't make the decision easier. It makes it misguided.

Nuance isn't the enemy of action

Here's what I think trips people up: they assume that grappling with nuance means slowing down. That holding two things in mind at once is indecision.

It isn't (or at least it doesn’t need to be). There's a meaningful difference between boiling the ocean and doing your due diligence. The goal isn't to consider everything forever — it's to consider the right things long enough to act with confidence. That balance, contemplation followed by decisive action, is how organizations actually learn and improve over time.

The leaders I've seen struggle most are the ones who narrow the field too early. Who need one cause, one fix, one answer. The challenges worth solving are almost never that simple and treating them as if they are usually compounds the original problem.

Why this matters for SaaSr.ai

SaaSr.ai exists to explore how the SaaS landscape is evolving in an era of genuine AI disruption. That's a topic full of competing but valid truths: SaaS has real problems AND it's here to stay. AI will change software economics AND nobody knows exactly how. Your technology choices matter AND they're probably not the root cause of most of your organizational pain.

Getting comfortable sitting with that kind of tension - staying open minded while still moving forward - is the prerequisite for everything else we're going to talk about here, and the ability to adapt it for your own needs.

Framework next week. See you then.

Got thoughts? Drop them in the comments — I'd love to hear what nuance looks like (or doesn't) in your organization.