The Paradox of Choice in the AI Age: Why Saying 'No' Matters More Than Ever

As AI removes traditional constraints on what we can build, the real scarcity becomes user attention and clarity. The most valuable skill in software development may be the discipline to say 'no' to good ideas.

The famous Steve Jobs quote about focus has taken on new meaning in the age of AI: "People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things."

But here's the twist: we now have AI, which fundamentally changes this equation. Generative technology paired with being "data-driven" means it's easy to build every idea, ship it, measure it, and see what sticks. Humans, money, time—these all used to be constraints which required budgets, trade-offs, and decision making. Organizations had an incentive to say "no" when development was constrained—"We can only do so much, so let's make sure we do the most impactful things."

The scarcity of organizational resources was perhaps the wrong focus all along. It's never been a good idea to ship everything you think of. Every addition accretes complexity and comes with a cognitive cost.

Maybe we need to reframe the concept of scarcity from us, the makers of software, to them, the users of software. Their resources are what matter most:

Attention (too many features and they can't all be used, or even tried)

Stability (too much frequent change is an impediment to learning a product)

Clarity (too many options creates confusion and paralysis)

Coherence (too many plots and subplots cannot tell a unified story)

So maybe the way you argue for saying "no" isn't because it helps you as a business, but because it helps your customers. It helps them make sense of what you've made.

And yet: arguing for customer clarity has always been harder than arguing for internal efficiency or some bottom line. In an age of abundance, restraint becomes the only scarce thing left, which means saying "no" is more valuable than ever.

I'm as proud of the things I haven't generated as the things I have.