Online Reporter
Hunt For Greatness
Milton Kamwendo
Do not let what you do not have limit you.
Build with what you have.
The world often celebrates perfect resources, ideal conditions and well-funded beginnings.
There is, however, a quieter, more powerful skill that drives real progress. This skill is called bricolage.
Bricolage is the art of making do with what is available.
It is the discipline of creating, solving and building using the resources at hand. It is not about waiting for ideal conditions.
Bricolage is working with what you have and achieving your objective. The term comes from the French word “bricoleur”. This is a person who improvises, tinkers and finds solutions from whatever materials are available.
The concept was powerfully explored by anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss in his influential book “The Savage Mind”, published in 1962. Lévi-Strauss described the bricoleur as someone who uses “the means at hand”.
He does this not because it is ideal, but because it is available.
This muscle, this spirit of the bricoleur, is what drives innovation and catalyses greatness.
Lévi-Strauss said: “The bricoleur is adept at performing a large number of diverse tasks; but unlike the engineer, he does not subordinate each of them to the availability of raw materials and tools.”To strengthen your bricolage muscle, develop the ability to create value under constraint.
Start with what you have. Start from where you are. Allow no excuses to haunt and immobilise you. Use what you have.
Why bricolage matters
We live in an imperfect world. That is the ever-present reality.
Resources are limited, conditions are uncertain and plans are disrupted, yet progress must continue. We cannot be playing endless waiting games. Those who wait for perfect conditions delay their progress.
Those who practise bricolage adapt and move forward.
They gain momentum because they start moving. Bricolage is relevant in environments where resources are scarce, systems are evolving, innovation is needed and speed matters.
Bricolage transforms constraint into creativity.
Mindset of the bricoleur
A bricoleur does not complain about what is missing. They focus on what is present. Choose to be a bricoleur.
Instead of asking, “What don’t I have?” choose the bricolage stance.
Ask: “What can I use?” “What can I combine?” and “What can I adapt?”
This shift in mindset is powerful.
It moves you from limitation to possibility, from dependency to resourcefulness and from waiting to action.
Bricolage vs idealism
Many people operate with an idealistic mindset.
You are likely to hear them say: “I need more funding before I start”, “I need the perfect team” or “I need better conditions”. While preparation is important, over-dependence on ideal conditions creates paralysis. There is no perfection in an imperfect world. Bricolage rejects perfectionism. It embraces progress over perfection. It faces the brutal reality and works with what is there. The reality is that the majority of great achievements begin imperfectly. The genius is in starting with what you have and working with the circumstances you find.
Innovation through constraint
Constraints inspire creativity and innovation. Some of the most creative breakthroughs in history have emerged from constraint. When resources are limited, creativity increases, efficiency improves, waste decreases and innovation accelerates. Constraints force you to think and think differently. The bricoleur sees a limitation as a design challenge.
Limitation is not a barrier. Limitation should never be an excuse for doing nothing and choosing to be a victim.
Combine what others overlook
Bricolage is not just about using what you have. It is also about recombining it creatively. Bricolage involves seeing connections others miss. It is repurposing existing tools.
In bricolage, you integrate diverse ideas and create new solutions from familiar elements.
The genius of the bricoleur lies in reconfiguration. What others see as unrelated, the bricoleur sees as opportunity. You see trash as cash. You turn messes into messages.
Bricolage leadership
You lead well when you strengthen your bricolage muscle.
Leaders often face incomplete information, limited resources and urgent demands. Strong leaders use bricolage to mobilise available talent, repurpose existing systems, adapt quickly to change and deliver results despite constraints.
Instead of saying, “We don’t have enough”, they say, “Let’s use what we have”. The bricolage mindset is powerful and builds momentum.
Bricolage and entrepreneurship
As an entrepreneur, you are natural bricoleurs. Entrepreneurs start with limited capital, small teams and basic tools, yet they build businesses by improvising, experimenting and iterating. You do not wait for readiness; you build readiness through action. Bricolage turns small beginnings into scalable ventures. Like any skill, bricolage can be developed.
You can strengthen it by starting before you feel ready, using available tools and resources creatively. Value what you have and experiment with solutions. Learn from trial and error. Stay flexible. The more you practise, the stronger your ability to adapt and create becomes. Keep moving your bricolage muscle.
Discipline of action
Bricolage is action-oriented.
It is not a waiting game. Bricolage values doing over waiting, testing over theorising and learning over perfection. Bricolage does not mean being careless.
It means being practically progressive. Small actions create momentum. Positive action compounds. Momentum creates confidence.
Confidence drives further action.
Milton Kamwendo is a leading international transformational and motivational speaker, author and accomplished workshop facilitator. He can be reached at: [email protected], WhatsApp: +263772422634.
Bricolage and resilience
Resilience is the ability to continue despite difficulties. Bricolage strengthens resilience because it trains you to use what you have and bounce into action.
You adapt quickly. You find alternatives or alternative uses.
You think in terms of multiple usage. You keep moving forward.
When you know how to work with what you have, you are unstoppable. Setbacks become manageable.
Resourcefulness replaces helplessness. Many people operate from a scarcity mindset.
They think of the deficit. They focus on what is missing. Bricolage shifts you to a creativity mindset.
You focus on what is possible. You think of the possibilities in what you have.
Bricolage does not deny limitations. It reinterprets them. It reframes reality.
Scarcity says: “I cannot.”
Bricolage says: “What can I do with this?”
This shift changes everything.
Build anyway
Greatness does not come to those who wait for perfect conditions.
It rewards those who build despite imperfect conditions.
Strengthen your bricolage muscle by becoming a creator under constraint.
Develop the ability to act, adapt and innovate with whatever is available.
Start where you are. Use what you have. Combine what is around you. Build anyway. Progress does not belong to those with the best resources. It belongs to those who use their resources best.
Strengthen your bricolage muscle.
You may not have everything you want but you have enough to begin with.
Beginning is where transformation starts. As you do, you start to see.
Milton Kamwendo is a leading international transformational and motivational speaker, as well as author of more than 12 books. He is a cutting-edge strategy, team-building and organisation development facilitator and consultant. He can be reached at: [email protected] WhatsApp: +263772422634.
Bongani Ndlovu