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i see, I didnt read it as a command but as a "We volitionally chose to solve the issue this way"

"Had to" usually implies coercion of a sort. Like you might say "in PE class we had to stand on one leg for 10 minutes".

I've had experiences where "Had to" was like

"If I wanted the outcome I was aiming for I had to.... (workout?)" This is how I took the sentence. A totally volitionally accepted responsibility