I spent an afternoon pushing a new AI tool to its limits—prompting, refining, and getting back beautifully dense outputs. It was exactly what I wanted: thorough, explicit, nothing left to assumption.

Then I found a Reddit thread about the same tool.

The top comment? “Way too detailed to be useful.”

More replies followed—some agreeing, some echoing the critique, a few defending it. I read them all. But here’s the thing: even with dozens of upvotes, that’s maybe 10, 20, 50 people. That’s not “the industry.” That’s a moment-in-time snapshot from a specific crowd.

The reminder landed (again): feedback is valuable; it’s not universal truth.

Many Dojos, Many Masters

In tech—and in life—there are countless schools of thought. Dojos of methodology. Each has its own techniques, philosophies, and rituals. None is objectively “better”; they’re different paths up the same mountain.

A master in one dojo outperforms a novice in another not because their school is superior, but because they’ve fully committed to its form.

Same with tools and processes. What feels “too detailed” for one person might be precisely the level of rigor another needs—especially in environments where high-stakes decisions or large teams require explicit, audit-friendly detail. The question isn’t whether the tool is right or wrong; it’s whether it’s right for you and your context.

JARVIS Works for Tony Stark

Think about JARVIS in Iron Man. It works for Tony because it’s built around how he thinks and works. In someone else’s hands, JARVIS might feel clunky or overkill. That doesn’t make it bad—it makes it specific.

Your career is the same. Shape your tools—simple or complex—to fit your workflow, your cognitive style, and your goals.

The Real Lesson

Listen to feedback. Weigh it. But don’t mistake a small crowd’s opinion for a standard—and don’t abandon a method that actually helps you do your best work.

Test ideas against your principles and your use case:

• Does this make my work clearer, faster, or safer?
• Does it reduce rework and ambiguity for me (and my team)?
• Does it fit the stakes of my environment?

Keep what works. Discard what doesn’t.

In the end, the best tool is the one you can master—not the one that wins the most upvotes.