Being right is not the same as being the one who decides
Published on September 22, 2026
𝗕𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀
What do you do when you warn, with data, that something is going to fail... and they still decide to go another way? 😅
Some time ago I proposed 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 the product in 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 — 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗲 and 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 — before shipping more 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀. The priority ended up being something else: more features, faster. Weeks later the complaints from 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 started coming in 🐛
That's when I learned something that was hard to digest: being technically 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 is not the same as holding the 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻. My 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 as an engineer isn't to impose my judgment — it's to flag the 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 clearly, 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 it, and 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗲 well on whatever decision gets made, mine or not.
And when things got complicated, the conversation wasn't "I told you so" — it was "here's what we're seeing, here's how we fix it." That difference is what builds long-term trust 💪
Over time I understood that my 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 ends where business 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 to decide begins. What's 100% mine: speaking up clearly before, and responding well after.
Has this happened to you too? How do you handle the line between pushing back and respecting the final call? Tell me 👇
Keep flying, Champions! ✈️