There are two types of people in the product world:

Those who chase ideas, and those who map the mess.

I’ve spent more than two decades working with founders, innovators, and product teams turning ideas into launch-ready solutions. I helped build software during the AdTech boom, survived the Millennium Bug, and guided clients through the churn of digital disruption.

And through all of it, I’ve learned one truth:

⚡ Technology isn’t the starting point. The system is.

The Allure of Tech-Led Discovery

Peter Thiel’s Zero to One is on every founder’s bookshelf. And for good reason: it champions boldness, monopoly thinking, and invention.

It’s exciting. It’s visionary. But it’s also—often—wrong.

Because most of us aren’t building the next PayPal or Palantir. We’re building things for messy, human systems that already exist. And that means we need to understand those systems before we try to disrupt them.

Systems-Led Discovery: The Missing Piece

This is where Peter Checkland comes in. His Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) isn’t flashy. It doesn’t sound like disruption or conquest. But it’s far more useful when you’re:

• Designing real-world products

• Solving social or organisational challenges

• Leading meaningful change in complex settings

SSM starts with people, contexts, and conflicts—not assumptions or visions. It helps teams:

• Surface root definitions of the real-world problem

• Map stakeholder worldviews

• Define purposeful activity systems before writing a line of code or launching a campaign

It doesn’t slow innovation down.

It saves you from building the wrong thing faster.

Why I Lean Systems First (Even After Decades in Tech)

When I was Head of Product at Adserve in the late ’90s, we had a simple mantra:

"We don’t build software in white towers.”

We listened. We observed. And we solved problems that actually mattered.

Back then, that meant helping ad agencies transition to “the paperless office.”

Today, it means helping founders and teams uncover the real needs behind the shiny pitch decks.

This is where I’ve come to a firm belief:

• Good products come from good discovery.

• Good discovery comes from systems thinking.

Looking Ahead

Over the next few posts in this series, I’ll break down:

• Why Thiel’s “Founder’s Paradox” glamorises dysfunction—and how systems thinking balances vision with reality

• Why “If You Build It, Will They Come?” is still the wrong question—and what distribution inside systems really looks like

• Why MVPs and Lean Start-up methods need systems thinking to avoid building useless “minimums”

• How Checkland’s SSM tools can unlock clarity and alignment before product development

• What the future holds when AI and human workflows meet systems-led design

Final Word

Thiel taught us to think big.

Checkland teaches us to think clearly.

And in my experience, it’s that clarity—about systems, stakeholders, and meaning—that separates hype from truly useful innovation.

Let’s build from understanding, not assumption.

Let’s start with the system.

If you want to explore how systems-led discovery could shape your product or idea, book a Systems Discovery Call today.

✒ Sign up for the full 9-part blog series 'From Vision to Value: A Systems-Led Discovery Series' and see how we break down the traps, myths, and blindspots — from Zero-to-One to Lean to AI — and show how systems thinking ties it all together.