Talk it through with Aurelius
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Aurelius · Work & Leadership
Knowledge + Guidance

Should our team build this or buy it?

Your team sits in a room, arguing. One person wants to build it because you'll control it. Another wants to buy it because it's faster. Both are guessing. Neither has asked the right questions. This is not a failure of intelligence. It is a failure of structure. No one taught you what to ask before you spend months, and your budget, on a choice you can't easily undo. The fix is not more debate. It is a short, shared list of questions you answer together, out loud, before you decide anything.

◆ How this problem reads on the two dials
GuidanceKnowledge
Coaching
More to learn
1:1 with AureliusWith others (a Pod)
Some one-to-one
Practise with peers
The team mainly lacks a clear set of questions to ask, so teaching the checklist matters more than coaching through feelings about the decision.
How the two dials adapt to you →
What’s really going on

You are not guessing because you lack judgment. You are guessing because no one gave your team a checklist. Before you choose to build or buy, answer four questions together: Is this core to what makes you different? Can you maintain it for years? What does it cost in time, not just money? And what happens if you choose wrong?

🔒 What you’ll build togetherUnlock by starting
A moveWrite down, as a team, what you believe only you can do better than anyone else — call this your 'core' list.
A moveList everything you'd have to maintain forever if you build it. Staff it on paper before you commit to it in real life.
A moveSet a deadline for the decision. Guessing forever costs more than deciding wrong once.
A moveAsk each person privately what they'd choose if no one could see their answer. Compare private answers to what people say out loud.
A moveName one person who owns the final call. If everyone owns it, no one does.
PractiseThe Four Questions · a Pod of 4 · 30 min

What changes unlock by starting

  • Your team stops relitigating the same decision every meeting.
  • You have a written answer to point to when someone questions the choice later.
  • You spend less time arguing and more time building or buying.
  • You know in advance what would make you reverse course.

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