When we set out to create something meaningful for any group of people, no matter how big or small, the first step is always understanding.

Who are they? What are their specific challenges, backstories, and circumstances? Why haven’t the other solutions available been effective for or adopted by them?

When we understand, we can draw up an informed blueprint outlining the best way to solve the problem.

Then, we get to work, follow the plan, and build it.

The trap we often fall into is that we don’t fully understand before we start building. Or more likely we think we understand, but our understanding turns out to be only surface-level.

No matter how embedded in a given community, our own personal understanding of the challenges facing it and the opportunities available is almost never enough.

Sure it might increase our odds of making a lucky guess, but if we truly want to understand how to create the best possible solution to the problem, we need to go deeper than our own experience and delve into the experience of others who might not experience the problem the same way we do.

Understanding rarely goes out of its way to seek us out, which means it’s up to us to do the hard work of seeking ourselves.

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