In large organizations, work often arrives already shaped in the form of a ticket, a feature spec or a defined task. Each team owns a slice: product defines, engineering builds, analysts measure, ML tunes. It keeps things moving, but it also narrows how we think.

Most people operate inside these systems, where efficiency and advancement depends on staying within scope. But when one only focuses on a narrow slice, we risk solving the assignment instead of the problem. The better question is: what are we actually trying to achieve here?

Sometimes the right move is to stay narrow and execute quickly; other times, to step back and redefine what matters. Roles exist to divide work, not to limit curiosity. The best engineers and teams know when to zoom out and solve the bigger problem.