solve wide build tight

pace it apart, strengthen both

I’ve seen teams explore just enough—then switch into production too soon, before the ideas fully land. It’s a pattern that shows up quietly: a few brainstorms, some early excitement, and then a sudden pivot into implementation. The problem isn’t the speed. It’s the sequencing.

Designers often feel torn between two extremes: explore too boldly and risk an unscalable mess, or stay too safe and end up with something forgettable. The tension is real. But the answer isn’t balance. It’s knowing when to be in which mode.

You explore to stretch the idea. You produce to shape it. Mixing the two too early weakens both.

I like to think of it the same way I approach writing: you don’t edit while you’re still figuring out what the story is. When you try to write and edit at the same time, the sentences stall, and the thinking crumbles. Creative work benefits from a similar kind of pacing—letting ideas unfold before narrowing them down.

So push ideas early, without worrying yet about edge cases or handoff. Then scale them later, when it’s time to build with clarity. Clear ideas need space to grow. Good products need structure to scale.

Pace it apart. Strengthen both.
Solve wide. Build tight.