Is your digital strategy growing - or just getting tangled?
In the rush to "go digital," most organisations have accidentally built a jungle. We iterate, we patch, and we layer new tools on top of old ones to meet the next deadline. On paper, it looks like growth. In reality, it’s often just a mounting pile of technical debt that makes the whole system brittle, expensive, and frankly exhausting to manage.
This is what happens when we prioritise "fast" over "sustainable."
In this article, I look at why we need to stop acting like construction workers and start acting like Digital Gardeners. It’s a shift from just building infrastructure to actively cultivating a resilient ecosystem. It’s about recognising that a digital system isn't a static object you finish; it’s a living environment that requires pruning, nurturing, and a very clear-eyed view of what we’re actually trying to grow.
Here’s what we’re digging into:
The "Organic Growth" Paradox: Why building too quickly creates a "complexity tax" that eventually kills innovation.
Cultivating Resilience: Moving beyond rigid architecture to systems that can actually adapt when things go wrong.
The Long Game: How to stop the cycle of constant "patching" and start building a legacy that lasts.
If we want technology to serve us in the long run, we have to stop just planting seeds and start tending to the soil.
