The Value Of Imperfection

One of my clients has a crucial meeting tomorrow with a potential partner organization. They could potentially resell their products and services in large quantities. The impact would be to improve the daily job of many more users who are suffering from inefficient processes in large retail companies.

This morning, we were preparing for this meeting. As we were reviewing the material that she put together, my client expressed concerns about the visual quality of the material she will be using.

“I really don’t feel comfortable about how these slides look. They feel like a draft”, she said.

Here is the thing: if you want people to adopt your ideas, you have to leave room for them to participate in building those ideas with you.

“How about you use this opportunity to invite them to improve your slides? When something looks like a draft, giving some input about it is less intimidating.”, I suggested.

When you tell a story, you have an audience. When you build a narrative, you create participants.

To do so, it’s crucial to co-create with people.

That’s because what people create with you also becomes their own.

That’s what many people want, but it’s what very few actually do.

Most people see a strategic narrative as a product. But in reality, it is a process. Building a strategic narrative is about making people’s hearts and minds converge. The true power of this approach comes if we dare to immerse ourselves in the process of designing something together.

In my client's case, showing up with super polished slides would indicate a high level of preparation and confidence. It would also shut down the possibility to co-create because things look like they’ve already been validated.

There is value in purposefully keeping something imperfect.

Dying to explore more ideas like this one? Join me today - Thursday, June 24th, at 9:00 am Pacific. It’s FREE.

I am inviting you every Thursday at 9:00 am Pacific to attend a free 30-minute talk+conversation about one of the strategic narrative principles of the book I am writing. I call these meetings Strategic Narrative Underground Sessions.

It is an opportunity to connect, learn and provide input on a piece of work that you might end up using for your own benefit. For me, it’s a chance to test new ideas.

If you’d like to check out what we’ve covered so far, you can now watch the recordings of our previous sessions here on Youtube.

Register in advance for this meeting.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

A bientôt!