How to Make Something Great

Some personal takeaways from How to make something great by Ryo Lu

“True greatness emerges not from any single stroke of genius, but from a careful cultivation of potential.”

Begin with the Ambiguous Artifact

Embrace initial uncertainty rather than forcing premature clarity. The greatest concepts often start as fuzzy outlines with untapped potential, gradually evolving into solutions that later seem inevitable.

Deliberately avoid definitions early on
Keep initial sketches rough - low-fidelity prototypes
Document changing understandings from day to day
Maintain a reference document - capture all potential directions

Assemble the Believers, Not the Bureaucrats

Build teams based on passion and mindset, not titles or roles. Seek collaborators who engage directly with challenges, share a higher purpose, and contribute energy rather than those who hide behind process or hierarchy.

Notice who speaks in possibilities vs. limitations
Cross-functional action beats isolated expertise
Small, committed team > large, partially-interested group

Delay the Funnel, Widen the Field

Resist early narrowing of possibilities. Allow yourself to explore broadly and discover unexpected connections before imposing constraints. The best solutions emerge from understanding the full landscape of related problems.

Map adjacent problems - they often hold hidden solutions
Schedule dedicated “divergent thinking” sessions - explore
Collect seemingly unrelated inputs - diverse industries, natural systems
Create “problem clusters” before jumping to solutions
“What if we solved for multiple problems at once?”
Look for “rhymes” - similar patterns across different domains

Act from Instinct and Build to Learn

Trust your instincts and start creating rather than seeking perfect plans or consensus. Learning happens through making, testing, and revising. Direct engagement with materials reveals truths that planning alone cannot.

Set “thinking deadlines” then make something, anything
Create weekly “build sprints” - even if just paper prototypes
Value partial solutions that teach something new
Track “insights per prototype” not “features completed”
Document gut reactions before logical analysis
Implement “pivot or preserve” reviews after each build

Don’t Validate Ideas to Death

Protect young ideas from premature judgment. Early validation often kills promising concepts before they’ve had time to develop. Give ideas room to mature before subjecting them to rigorous testing.

Establish protected periods for idea development
Use different measures at different stages
Beware of false negatives
Ask “what would make this work?” before “will this work?”
Test for potential energy, not immediate performance

Pursue Quality and Agility in Equal Measure

Reject the false choice between speed and excellence. Great work emerges from balancing quick iteration with craftsmanship. Build solutions in integrated layers that progressively reveal a cohesive vision.

“Stackable quality” - each layer complete but expandable
Maintain quality:speed ratio appropriate to project phase
Track technical debt consciously - schedule regular repayment
Study domains that balance both

The Strange Alchemy of Creation

Creating greatness is inherently messy and non-linear. When the principles work together, what begins as ambiguous experimentation ultimately appears both fresh and inevitable—revealing what was possible all along.

Progress rarely feels linear - expect plateaus
Greatness emerges from iteration, not revelation
Track moments when “it clicked” - what preceded them?
Cultivate patience and trust the process
Document the messy journey - valuable