Patience vs Progress
As someone who loves long-term planning and pay-off, I find myself sometimes getting caught up in the delicious intricacies of a plan. And while I (and others) may admire how “plans are nothing, planning is everything”, to folks who can’t see the plan, that appreciation is lost. What I’ve come to realize is that a very patient person doing 1% better every day can look like they’re not moving at all to an outside observer. In most organizations, progress (vs patience) is what is rewarded. And as an operator, it’s very important to recognize where your environment falls in the 2x2 of Patience vs Progress.
[-] Patience / [-] Progress
In an org where patience is low and progress is slow, it’s gut check time. What are we doing?
[-] Patience / [+] Progress
In an org where patience is low but progress is fast, it’s sanity check time. Are we doing the right things?
[+] Patience / [-] Progress
In an org where patience is high but progress is slow, it’s scope check time. Are we doing enough?
[+] Patience / [+] Progress
In an org where patience is high and progress is fast, it’s check check time. How do we scale?
And just to give folks a summary visual…
No matter what time of “check” you’re in in, your levers are your plans, your people, and your process.
I’d love to hear from readers about their learnings navigating the patience vs progress 2x2 - please chime in via comments👇. And if you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing.
further reading / references
the best way to navigate the patience vs progress dilemma is staying synced on strategy
I’ve written about 1% compounding over time before in the anti-moonshot factory and the power of layering product choices
BHAG thinking requires threading the needle perfectly on patience and progress
childish drawing / interpretation
