Stop Waiting For A Sign

Don’t like something? Fix it. 

See a way to improve things? Do it. 

Want something that doesn’t exist? Make it. 

That’s the creed of history’s change-makers: the people who upended the status quo and pushed the world forward.

Consider Nikki Sylianteng, who’s “gotten one too many parking tickets and believed there must be a better way.”

She was sick and tired of confusing parking signs. She didn’t petition someone else to fix it. She didn’t complain on social media. She didn’t waste her time waiting for the parking system to self-correct.

She just made a better parking sign. 

It launched a guerrilla, word-of-mouth campaign that spread. Her design gained steam and now appears on street poles across the country.

The human mind is a problem-solving machine. Our minds gravitate toward more efficient and effective ways of doing things. Our hearts gravitate toward visions of a more just and equitable future. 

For anyone who wants to build such a future, the most important thing is to realize that you don’t need to have it all figured out from the beginning. As the first principle of Sylianteng’s design approach reads, “start small then build up.” As General Eisenhower famously said, “Plans are useless, but the act of planning is indispensable.” 

The first step reveals the second step. The second step reveals the third. 

Another one of Sylianteng’s design principles is “build to learn.”

You don’t need to figure everything out before you start. Ironically, starting is how you eventually figure everything out.

It’s easy to forget that the race winner is usually the one who starts first. The first mover has the benefit of early exposure to feedback. Feedback that guides further iteration. Feedback that moves the project toward perfection. 

So if you want to solve problems, drive change, and create a better world, all you have to do is start. It really is that simple.