There’s a particular kind of electric thrill when everything finally clicks. One moment you’re pulling on a thread of curiosity, chasing a problem you can’t quite name, and the next, the whole landscape shifts. A new idea cracks open. You see the shape of something you’d only half imagined before.
That feeling is hard to explain but unmistakable when it hits. Hours disappear. You lose track of time. The work doesn’t drain you; it charges you. You’re building something real, and it’s starting to take on a shape of its own.
When you build alongside others who share that same restless energy, that feeling sharpens. Their questions pull new thoughts out of you. Their excitement reminds you that you’re not chasing these ideas alone. You’re part of something bigger, carried forward by the momentum you create together.
The real joy of building doesn’t come from just solving problems. It comes from working in the open, from sharing your excitement before it’s fully formed, from lighting the way for others to follow. Joy in building comes from creating something remarkable, something that carries within it a piece of you and everyone who contributed to it.
That joy and the spirit that fuels it matter now more than ever. We’re standing at the edge of a shift bigger than we’ve ever experienced before. The way we work, learn, and build is changing forever. In this moment, we need each other to chase questions out loud, to move before the path feels certain and light the way forward — not just for ourselves, but for everyone coming next.
The spirit of the builder
The best builders aren’t just problem-solvers: they’re momentum-makers. They lead with curiosity and with a deep understanding that real breakthroughs rarely happen behind closed doors. It isn’t polish or perfection that moves work forward, but the willingness to start before you’re ready, to ask better questions, and to share early enough that others can help shape what’s next.
True builders work loudly. They’re not looking for attention, they just know that energy builds energy. A half-formed idea on a whiteboard can spark a breakthrough in someone else. A rough prototype, a scribbled diagram, a casual comment about a tool you barely understand, any of it can become the starting point for something more powerful than you could build alone.
That doesn’t mean it’s always easy. Working this way means being a little vulnerable, being open before you feel ready. It means letting go of the need to be certain and trusting that progress often looks like a half-step forward in public. But this is the work that matters.
The spark that catches
I’ve felt the impact of this spirit firsthand, as it has sparked some of the biggest shifts recently in my own work.
On a previous team, we were experimenting with AI to automate part of an internal communication process, the first project where I’d worked closely with this kind of tech. I was focused more on design, comms, and change management, while my manager was deep in the code, wiring things together with early OpenAI APIs. One afternoon, he tossed out a message: “this thing uses something called tiktoken”, I guess because of the potential TikTok reference. It was a quick comment, a passing spark, but it caught. I looked it up, and that sent me down a rabbit hole of learning how LLMs work at a fundamental level. I probably wouldn’t have gone looking for it on my own, but his curiosity opened a door I didn’t even know was there.
I see that same spirit now, where I’m lucky to work alongside people like Angie Jones. She’s been loud about her excitement for things like agentic AI and the Model Context Protocol (MCP). None of this is settled; the ground is shifting every day. But the way she works and learns out loud through blog posts and livestreams and hallway conversations (real or virtual), bringing others along with her, is a reminder that every day brings a new opportunity to stretch, to stay curious, and to keep pushing ourselves further. Her energy doesn’t just power herself and her own learning; it pulls others into the conversation, keeping us all at the edge of what’s next in a world that’s changing by the second.
These sparks don’t come from formal meetings or polished decks. They come from chasing questions and working in the open, from sharing excitement before it’s “ready.” When builders work this way, learning becomes contagious. Momentum becomes inevitable.
Why it matters now
The world isn’t just changing; it’s speeding up. New ideas, new tools, and new ways of working are arriving faster than anyone can keep up with alone. It’s tempting to wait until things feel more certain. But in a moment like this, waiting is its own kind of choice, and it’s the one that guarantees you’ll fall behind.
The builders who shape what’s next aren’t waiting for instructions. They’re learning out loud, sharing early, moving before the path is clear, and paving the way so others can come behind. They aren’t chasing certainty; they’re chasing momentum.
So if you still feel that spark, trust it. Be the one who lights the way. We’ll follow.