Everyone has a line. Most people don’t notice it until they hit it.
I’m not talking about ethics or morality—though those matter too. I’m talking about the line between what you’ll accept and what you won’t. Between “this is how we’ve always done it” and “this is how it should be done.”
In my work—helping organizations transform how they build and operate technology—I see people bump into lines constantly. Sometimes they don’t even know the line exists until they’ve crossed it.
The Invisible Lines
Here’s what I’ve noticed: the lines that trip people up most are the ones they inherited without examining. The architecture patterns everyone assumes are correct because they were correct ten years ago. The operating models that made sense when the company was smaller. The vendor relationships that persist through inertia rather than value.
These invisible lines shape decisions in ways people don’t recognize. A team will reject a better approach because it doesn’t fit the unspoken rules. Leaders will avoid hard conversations because the organizational lines say certain topics are off-limits.
The first step is just seeing them. You can’t decide whether a line serves you until you know it’s there.
Drawing Your Own
Once you see the lines—yours, your team’s, your organization’s—you have a choice. Keep them or redraw them.
This isn’t about being contrarian for its own sake. Some lines exist for good reasons. Security boundaries matter. Compliance requirements exist because someone got burned. The wisdom of experienced practitioners is worth respecting.
But other lines are just legacy. They’re the residue of old decisions made by people who aren’t around anymore, solving problems that no longer exist. These lines don’t protect you—they constrain you.
Drawing your own lines means being intentional. It means deciding what you actually believe, what you actually value, what you’re actually willing to defend. Not what you inherited. Not what’s convenient. What’s true for you.
The Hard Part
Here’s where it gets uncomfortable: drawing your own lines means being accountable for them.
When you operate inside inherited lines, you have cover. “That’s just how things are done here.” “The vendor says this is best practice.” “Leadership made that call.” You’re not responsible—you’re just following the map someone else drew.
When you draw your own lines, you own them. If you’re wrong, that’s on you. If others disagree, you have to defend your position or change your mind. No hiding behind consensus. No hiding behind tradition.
This is why most people don’t do it. It’s easier to complain about the lines than to redraw them. It’s safer to work within bad constraints than to propose better ones.
But here’s what I’ve learned: the people who do the best work, who build the things that actually matter, who transform organizations instead of just maintaining them—they’ve all drawn their own lines. They know what they believe and why. They can articulate their boundaries. They’ve done the hard thinking.
Takeaways
Spot the lines you’ve inherited. Most of the constraints shaping your decisions were drawn by someone else, often for reasons that no longer apply. Identify them before deciding whether to keep them.
Choose your own. Decide what you actually believe and value—not what’s convenient or expected. Your lines should reflect your real thinking, not borrowed assumptions.
Stand by what you draw. When you set your own boundaries and make your own calls, you’re accountable for them. That’s the price of doing work that matters.
This site is where I share the lines I’ve drawn. Some you’ll agree with. Some you won’t. That’s the point—you should be drawing your own.