“In life our first job is this, to divide and distinguish things into two categories: externals I cannot control, but the choices I make with regard to them I do control. Where will I find good and bad? In me, in my choices.” -Epictetus

Amazing how Hellenistic philosophy resonates in modern day business world.

We can’t control market conditions, vendor roadmaps, customer requirements, competitor actions, or executive whims.  What we can control is how much time we spend on thinking about what’s possible and how flexible and forward-looking our solutions are.  In that flexibility do we find the capacity to respond appropriately.

And the solution that was good at one point can become bad pretty quickly if it can’t adequately respond to an external factor.  The mark of a good solution is its ability to stand the test of changing, uncontrollable, external factors.