Patience Makes Practice

Photo by Jennifer Coffin-Grey on Unsplash

Many of us involved in this AI wave find ourselves using the phrase “it’s not the magic bullet.” This is because the expectations of stakeholders who invest in bringing AI tools to their organizations find themselves disappointed with the current capabilities. In my experience the products themselves, while they are new and filled with room for improvement, are still rather remarkable. The disappointment doesn’t come from the product but in the expectation of the product.

People wanted a magic bullet, and they didn’t get it.

I think we all experience this same feeling when we embark on a new journey. It doesn’t matter how good version 1 is, we all want to jump straight to that finished product. This desire to jump to the end means that getting to the end will never just be about capabilities. A mature product is born from developing and updating it over time which means patience will always need to be at the center of every lofty goal.

They say practice makes perfect, but consistent practice will never exist without persistent patience.

Our biggest achievements in life are secured when we are able to picture what we want clearly, while still being patient enough to put in the time to earn it. We need to see the end of the road without wishing for the ability to teleport there. We need to be willing to take every step, to have enough patience to practice and improve and while I don’t believe we ever truly reach “perfect,” I know for certain that we’ll never even get close if we don’t clothe ourselves in patience.

Persistent patience is knowing that you can only grow so quickly; it is knowing that the act of practicing is a long road, and it is committing to showing up for it. Persistent patience is when you stop hoping for a magic bullet and start doing the work.