It’s time to leave for dinner.

Your friend/spouse/partner comes out of the bathroom after getting ready and proceeds to ask the most predictable and ridiculous question ever known:

“How do I look?”

You say “Great.” for two reasons:

1. What else are you going to say to someone who’s obviously given their best effort
2. They weren’t really asking how they looked, they were asking for affirmation

As you start structuring your insights into consulting IP (frameworks, visuals, playbooks, etc.), don’t wait until you have a polished artifact to ask someone else for input.

Paradoxically, the more it looks glossy and complete, the less likely you are to get constructive feedback.

Show them the rough drafts, the napkin sketches, the snap of the whiteboard.

If you show them a finished product, you’re asking for affirmation, not iteration.

💡

-Wes