You cannot build a city with intelligence alone. Three powers I have become convinced of over 20 years.

It was nearly 20 years ago. Standing before a plot of land that was still empty, someone once asked me this question directly.

“Will this really work?”

I could not answer. I could neither guarantee that it would work, nor could I escape by saying it wouldn't. This was because, at that moment, there was no guarantee anywhere in the world that it would “work.” The answer was still hanging in the air.

I can say it now: this work begins from the place where there is no answer. Work where the answer is visible from the start is something someone else is already doing anyway. Can you endure that suspended time without an answer, without running away? Over 20 years, I have learned that this is the single turning point that determines the success or failure of this work.

Three powers that cannot be measured by grades

Having continued this work, there is something I am convinced of from the bottom of my heart. What is truly needed for urban development and public-private partnerships is not intelligence, skill in planning, or the beauty of documents. It is three powers that cannot be measured by even a single point on a school report card.

First, the power to understand the other party's position.
Second, the power to live with the ambiguity of having no answer.
Third, the power to take a step forward while believing without a guarantee.

I will go so far as to say this: high test scores are almost useless in this field. The smarter people are, the less they can endure the time without answers, and they rush to judge things in black and white, which ends up breaking things instead. I have seen such scenes countless times. These three powers have a structure surprisingly similar to what I have drilled into players on the volleyball court. Today, let me talk about that.

A setter who cannot stand in the other party's position cannot become a great setter

I will start with the first, the power to understand the other party's position.

In volleyball, the primary playmaker is the setter. A second-rate setter sets the ball they want to set. A first-rate setter is different. They read everything about each of the six spikers—the speed of their approach that day, the tension in their shoulders, whether they are still dwelling on a previous mistake, even the fluctuations in their mood—and change the height and position of the toss in a fraction of a second. In other words, a first-rate setter is always standing in the “other party's position,” delivering the ball that is easiest for them to hit.

Public-private partnerships are exactly the same. The administrative side must understand that the private sector cannot move a single step without a surplus. The private sector must understand that the administration does not move based on profit, cannot move quickly, and carries the burden of diverse residents. There are too many people in the public sector who insist only on the ball they want to set, without this understanding. That is why, in my company, we never evaluate people who try to win by refuting the other party. Refutation is the exact opposite of standing in the other party's position.

Living with the ambiguity of having no answer

Second. This is the power I have nodded to most deeply after 20 years of doing this.