Field notes from India #2: The aesthetics of rigour are now cheap

By padmasambhava @ 2026-09-01T15:50 (+1)

Creating a (semi-)polished strategy/ToC document is no longer costly. The latest models on your go-to LLM can operationalize the M&E metrics, specify forecasts for risks and contingencies, and draft agreements in legalese to the T. 

Many aspiring fieldbuilders mistake this LLM-granted prowess for their own prowess of thought and action. And this is dangerous. Over the past 10 months, we've encountered strategy docs that seem to better calibrated than the authors and authoring initiatives that circulated them. However, to a reasonable extent, calibration can now be performed without any real-world practice. This means new fieldbuilders constantly violate basic rules as they try out chaotic, poorly reasoned tactics to figure out what sticks. Eventually, they'll encounter more experienced people who'll be dismayed by what they see. And so we've also encountered one too many individuals of merit who're confused or concerned when faced with the tactics of inexperienced fieldbuilders with a misplaced sense of their capability. 

What this means:

1. Please be candid with new/aspiring fieldbuilders!! This is not a glorious consulting job offer- it takes time, effort, calibration, and discernment.
2. For newcomers looking to fieldbuild- please talk to experienced professionals and take lessons to heart. Please VERY STRONGLY consider working with an established org/team to gain the right experience.
3. Follow through with small, targeted pilots to generate evidence/information that can inform a strategy doc. Be grounded as you chase ambitious problems.

More to come in this series in the coming months!