You’ve probably felt it: the pressure to weigh in. Someone asks for your opinion about a conflict you weren’t part of. A leadership decision above your level. A colleague’s behaviour when you only heard one side.
It’s tempting to say something, to signal insight or to appear wise. But without context, most of what we call insight is just guessing with confidence.
Ayao Komatsu, team principal at Haas F1, was asked to comment on the dismissal of Christian Horner at Red Bull. A high-profile moment. Plenty of speculation. And yet, Komatsu simply said:
“It’s not my business. I don’t know what’s going on there, so why would I have any thoughts?”
No hedging. No diplomacy. Just boundaries and clarity.
The Illusion of Insight
We live in a culture that rewards commentary. We’re flooded with takes, threads, panels, and explainers, many of them from people with no real proximity to the situation. While the analysis may sound smart, the truth is simpler:
If you weren’t in the room, you don’t know what happened and if you didn’t carry the weight, you don’t know what it cost. If you haven’t felt the tension, you don’t know what was required.
Without context, your judgment says more about you than about the thing you’re judging.
The Discipline of Discernment
It’s not weakness to stay quiet, it’s not a lack of opinion: it’s the presence of restraint.
When Komatsu declined to comment, he wasn’t dodging. He was honoring a boundary—the line between what he sees and what he doesn’t. The line between visibility and understanding.
In Basic Concept #3 – Not Everything Matters, we learn to filter our attention. In #60 – Managers Hate Surprises, we learn why context matters more than outcomes. In #61 – Don’t Assume. Ask., we learn that most confusion comes from guessing.
This is the synthesis of all three: If you don’t have the context, you don’t have the right to judge.
What This Looks Like in Real Life
• You don’t join the gossip circle, even if you think you “get it” • You pause before reacting to news—because proximity matters more than headlines • You speak only from your side of the room, and you make that clear
This doesn’t mean staying silent forever, it means waiting until your words are grounded in reality, not assumption.
If you never get that grounding? You stay silent not because you’re passive, but because you’re precise.
Final Thought
Clarity isn’t just about speaking well. It’s also about knowing when not to speak. That is not because you’re afraid but because you understand something deeper:
Only context gives you the right to judge.
When you honor that, your words (when they come) will carry more weight than a thousand guesses.