What is Patient Design?
Patient design is a value that directs our attention away from the constraints imposed by the urgency of the present and reminds us that impact, like capital, appreciates when patiently and strategically managed.
We all want to come up with solutions today that we can see bear fruit tomorrow. A fundamental constraint of human psychology is our desire to see our efforts pay off. And that desire is particularly frustrated when we’re confronted with urgent needs caused by problems with chronic causes. The desire to address the urgent need can be so strong that it can seem insensitive to take time to strategize solutions that address the chronic causes but which may not come to fruition for years, decades, or even generations. Still, if no one ever lays the foundation for long-term solutions to chronic problems, those problems can be expected to endure and compound.
What if there is something we can be doing today that can mature organically into an unstoppable transformational force 20, 50 or even 200 years from now? We won’t see those possibilities if we aren’t looking for them, and the value of patient design reminds us that our potential for impact expands into the future and can transcend present constraints.
