AI doesn't build moats. Clarity does.

The case for clarity, right now (re; ai et al)

Leaders have always had to decide which tools and technologies to deploy within their business. What feels different now is the sheer abundance of choice, coupled with noise. Options are expanding horizontally and vertically, new entrants are popping up, and internal teams are pitching their own use-cases. The challenge people are facing right now is choice, so the objective should be focus.

In conversations with teams about what’s next for their business, it feels like there are a few camps emerging. One is drinking from the faucet, taking a sampling approach where any application feels like it gets them in the game. Usage creates the sense of progress, but it isn’t often anchored in the reality of actual needs. The other appears more selective at the plate, more disciplined in what they swing at, and are working to shape the game so the right opportunities come to them. 3-0 count, sitting dead red.

The divide is with how well their own brief of the problem or objective is defined. Teams with clear objectives and a strategy that connects where they are to where they’re going can cut through most of the exhaust being put out by vendors and experts. They evaluate technology in service of a defined outcome. Teams without that clarity often end up in internal “shark tanking,” where divisions pitch disconnected initiatives centered on technology itself, not the problems it should be aimed at.

Obligatory Porter quote: 

 "Continuity of direction makes adaptation more effective"

That’s what strategy gives you. It doesn’t make the abundance of choice less, but it makes those choices manageable. It puts you on the front foot instead of the back foot, selective in what you pursue, not reactive to everything that crosses the plate.

I don't think tools and applications of them are going to stop coming our way, there will be an acceleration, but clarity can create some predictability around what we're facing. If we know the problem we’re solving and the measures that matter, then choice starts to feel like an advantage, not a distraction.

There are some basic questions I think are important to ask:

1. Do we have clarity on the problem we’re actually solving?

2. Are we aligned on the outcome we want and the leading indicators we’ll use to measure progress?

3. Do we have a strategy that helps us filter choices, so we know which tools fit and which ones don’t?

Feels more manageable that way.