In the rush to respond to generative AI in higher education, we risk operating from assumptions rather than evidence about what students and staff in universities are experiencing. This keynote explores how theoretically grounded qualitative research can challenge dominant narratives, such as students as cheaters or staff as purely reactive, without claiming generalisability. Drawing on focus group research with students (using the COM-B behavioral framework to understand capability, opportunity, and motivation) and collaborative work with staff to develop practical guidance (structured around “Do’s, Don’ts, and Don’t Knows”) at the University of Cape Town, I demonstrate how listening carefully reveals more nuanced stories than initial tropes suggest. Small-scale, rigorous qualitative inquiry doesn’t just generate interesting and contextually responsive findings, it changes the conversations we’re able to have with our stakeholders and within our communities of learning. For researchers, this poses an important question: what stories are hidden in your data and how might telling them differently shift practice in your context?