By Jeremy Shank – Data Solutions Architect at Abacus Technologies.
In a recent client discovery call, I heard something I’ve come to recognize as both familiar and telling. An end user said the software they use is “not very good,” quickly followed by, “but it’s fine, we don’t want to change it.”
That phrase, “it’s fine,” has become something of a red flag in my line of work.
“It’s fine” usually means it isn’t. It often translates to: we’ve lived with this pain so long, we’ve forgotten it’s there. It’s the limp someone ignores until they can’t run. The dull ache that’s “just part of getting older.” The systems, processes, or tools that are “good enough” only because we’ve adapted around their limitations.
As a consultant, my job is to uncover those limitations – the friction points the business has normalized – and propose solutions. But the hardest part isn’t implementing the fix. It’s convincing stakeholders that a fix is needed in the first place.
Because pain that’s gone unaddressed for too long becomes invisible. And invisible pain doesn’t show up on roadmaps, budgets, or OKRs.
Until it does.
Numb Isn’t Neutral
When users stop complaining, that doesn’t always mean the problem is solved. Sometimes it means they’ve given up. They’ve stopped believing change is possible. They’ve adjusted expectations, created workarounds, and absorbed inefficiencies as part of daily life.
And the longer that happens, the more expensive it becomes.
There’s the obvious cost: time lost, productivity drained, errors made. But there’s also a hidden cost: user frustration, lost morale, and missed opportunities. Teams become reactive instead of strategic. Staff turnover increases. Talent gets wasted on tasks that shouldn’t require heroics.
A Pattern I’ve Seen Before
Over and over again, I’ve watched this cycle play out:
- A business limps along with a flawed system.
- No one wants to touch it because “it’s good enough.”
- Our team gets brought in for a separate issue and discovers the deeper wound.
- We implement a solution to the problem no one believed was solvable.
- The business takes off. The users light up. “Why didn’t we do this sooner?”
It’s not magic. It’s just attention. It’s surfacing what’s been buried. It’s asking, “Why does it have to be this way?” and sitting long enough to hear, “Actually… it doesn’t.”
Pain Is a Signal, Not a Status Quo
We need to start treating user pain less like background noise and more like a strategic insight.
- That clunky workaround your team hates? It’s probably costing more than you think.
- That legacy system no one wants to touch? It’s probably limiting more than you know.
- That repeated phrase, “It’s fine,” is probably where your next big win is hiding.
As technologists, consultants, and leaders, our job isn’t just to fix what’s broken. It’s to notice what’s broken when no one else does. To listen between the lines. To treat user fatigue as an opportunity, not a footnote.
Because when we do, when we actually address the forgotten pain, the results are transformative. Not just in systems, but in the people who use them every day.
You don’t need to wait for a crisis to make progress. Sometimes, all it takes is a fresh conversation and the courage to ask, “Is this still serving us?”
If this resonates, contact us today. We’ll help you find the areas where you’ve grown numb and help you move past them.
Contact us here.