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title: The best recommendation I can give is sometimes "don't build anything"
author: Giacomo Balli
published: 2026-09-12
url: https://BigBalli.com/blog/the-best-recommendation-i-can-give-is-sometimes-dont-build-anything
tags: Engineering, Product, Reading, Business
---

# The best recommendation I can give is sometimes "don't build anything"

*By Giacomo Balli* | *Published: September 12, 2026*

The best technology recommendation I can give a client is sometimes "don't build anything." It is also the one clients find hardest to accept, because they came with a budget and a wish to use it.

Picture a company ready to spend on a customer portal. Customers have been asking about order status for years. The proposal is reasonable, the vendor competent, the price fair.

Then the review finds that 80% of the status questions are about one thing: whether an order had shipped. The shipping system already sends an email with a tracking number. It goes to the address on the account, which for most customers is a purchasing inbox nobody reads.

The recommendation is a field in the order form for a second email address and a change to the template. Cost: a week of one person's time. The portal stays unbuilt. The questions mostly stop.

Nobody selling software could have made that recommendation. Not out of dishonesty. It simply is not the answer their business is built to give.

"Build nothing" is not always right. Often the review confirms the project and the client proceeds with better questions answered. But if the person reviewing your proposal has never once said "do nothing," they are not reviewing. They are agreeing, and you are paying for the agreement.

[Discuss on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7506836964143194112)

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**Tags:** Engineering, Product, Reading, Business

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