MENTAL MODEL · M3825

Crazy Quilt Principle

BusinessHigh supportEntrepreneurship

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Updated 2026-08-05

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INTRODUCTION

English translation pending.

CORE DEFINITION

The crazy quilt principle is one of the five principles of effectuation identified by Saras Sarasvathy. Rather than selecting partners to fit a predetermined plan, the entrepreneur builds a patchwork of self-selected stakeholders who commit resources, and the pattern of commitments determines the venture's direction. The name evokes a quilt sewn from whatever fabric is available. The key qualifier is that commitment must be real, since the principle works by trading a share of the future for resources now, and it assumes goals are adjustable rather than fixed.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

- Partner screen: Replace the search for the ideal partner with the question of who will actually commit something. - Goal flexibility: Let the commitments you can secure reshape the target rather than filtering partners against it. - Boundary design: Watch for overlapping responsibilities where a patchwork of partners leaves gaps.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Under uncertainty no plan can specify which capabilities will matter, so selecting partners against a forecast excludes people who turn out to be essential. Each committed stakeholder brings not only resources but also a new means and a new possible end, so the venture's trajectory emerges from the sequence of commitments. Because the partner has staked something, their incentives align with making the joint project work, which substitutes for the monitoring a contract would otherwise require.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Practice this model in one real situation:

List the people and organizations that have already offered something concrete, even if small. 2. Convert their interest into a specific commitment before designing around them. 3. Ask what new ends their resources make possible, and revise the plan accordingly. 4. Draw the responsibility map and mark where patches overlap or leave a gap. 5. Assign or merge the seams explicitly so nothing falls between partners.

Check to track your progress (stored locally)

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Source support: Explicit

link
effectuation.orghttps://effectuation.org/effectuation-101ZH · Explicit
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