We had the most amazing moment this week. After one year of thoughtfully building our company, we FINALLY got to assess a new learner. It was magical.
We could have started serving kids months earlier, just based on demand. But we refused to do that.
Why?
Because we had a specific objective to accomplish before we would launch.
What was it?
It was simple.
BUILD THE PLANE BEFORE YOU FLY IT!
Why?
Because kids with autism (and their parents) deserve better. They deserve high-quality ABA through organizations that get their act together before they open their center doors (signing leases is easy, building good companies is not).
What about the staff?
Yes, they definitely deserve better. They should get to work in organizational cultures that are designed with them in mind. They deserve to work in a system that's built to be adaptive and continually improves. They deserve to have clinical resources, systems, and processes that make their jobs a delight. Clinicians deserve to work in organizations with humans that know what they are doing, because they put in the work.
We were proactive this year, with the expectation of minimizing unnecessary chaos and dysfunction. As the CEO who gets to manage the investment, I can affirm that we invested our time and money incredibly well. Patient outcomes and thriving staff are the ROI we expect.
In all of this, we did not do anything novel. Although we did do something beautiful because it was done in love and with others in mind. It’s a masterpiece and a work in progress simultaneously.
Having that kid in our center was the reinforcer.
As I said, it was magical.
Build the Plane Before You Fly It
