Card #49 – ”Don’t Force It” from the Creative Whack Pack

Available on the iOS App Store and as a physical deck of cards

Sometimes delaying action can be the best course of action. That’s because while you’re waiting, you can gather more information about the most fruitful way to proceed.

Here’s an example: an architect built a cluster of office buildings around a central green. When construction was completed, the landscape crew asked him where he wanted the sidewalks. “Not yet,” was the architect’s reply, “just plant the grass solidly between the buildings.”

This was done, and by late summer the new lawn was laced with pathways of trodden grass, connecting building to building. These paths turned in easy curves and were sized according to traffic flow.

In the fall, the architect simply paved the paths. Not only were the paths beautiful, they responded directly to user needs.

As software developer Rick Tendy put it, “I never try to solve a problem by trying to solve it.”

— What are you forcing in your issue?