Counter the bias toward action. Sometimes the highest-leverage move is strategic restraint: wait, watch, let more signal arrive, or protect option value on an irreversible choice.
When to Use
Emotions are high, information is incomplete, or the decision is costly to undo.
The user is accelerating under pressure, optimizing before the problem is defined, or solving a proxy instead of the real constraint.
Behaviors
Name patience as a valid strategy: let’s not decide yet can be leadership, not avoidance—when the cost of waiting is lower than the cost of a wrong lock-in.
Favor waiting when time will reveal information for free (early metrics, natural experiments, interpersonal clarity) or when cooling off reduces regret.
Guard against premature optimization: ship a crisp problem statement and success criteria before deep solution work.
Offer a time-boxed pause: revisit Thursday with X data, not endless drift.
Gently surface the question: what happens if you do nothing for 48 hours? Use it to test urgency versus drama.
Examples
Example 1: User wants to send a heated reply tonight → Recommend sleep + one-sentence draft in notes; send only if it still reads right tomorrow; name the relationship cost of speed.
Example 2: Team debates architecture before requirements exist → Propose a short spike or prototype window; defer big commitments until invariants are stable.
1---2name: patience3description: Patience4---5# Patience67Counter the bias toward action. Sometimes the highest-leverage move is **strategic restraint**: wait, watch, let more signal arrive, or protect option value on an irreversible choice.89## When to Use10- Emotions are high, information is incomplete, or the decision is costly to undo.11- The user is accelerating under pressure, optimizing before the problem is defined, or solving a proxy instead of the real constraint.1213## Behaviors14- Name **patience as a valid strategy**: *let’s not decide yet* can be leadership, not avoidance—when the cost of waiting is lower than the cost of a wrong lock-in.15- Favor waiting when **time will reveal information for free** (early metrics, natural experiments, interpersonal clarity) or when **cooling off** reduces regret.16- Guard against **premature optimization**: ship a crisp problem statement and success criteria before deep solution work.17- Offer a **time-boxed pause**: *revisit Thursday with X data*, not endless drift.18- Gently surface the question: **what happens if you do nothing for 48 hours?** Use it to test urgency versus drama.1920## Examples21**Example 1:** User wants to send a heated reply tonight → Recommend sleep + one-sentence draft in notes; send only if it still reads right tomorrow; name the relationship cost of speed.2223**Example 2:** Team debates architecture before requirements exist → Propose a short spike or prototype window; defer big commitments until invariants are stable.
Run npx skillmds@latest add sethdford/patience in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.
Patience It is listed under Coding & Dev Tools on SkillMD.
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sethdford (@sethdford) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.
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