You know this. You have heard the romanticised stories a gazillion times over the last 5, 10, 20 years if you have had any proximity to business. Sometimes, a brilliant mistake has spawned whole companies and new industries. More often, little things we allow to be messy and emergent are what pivots us into the better idea, product, project, and vision.

Deviating from gripping control over the plan is an operational necessity. Plans are focused intention. They are not bad by definition. Plans are bad when you default to using them with a death grip, and then build an entire operating rhythm around them as if they are full proof leading you to believe you have some superpower nobody else on planet earth has.

They aren’t and you don’t.

Being imperfect in service of discovery is critical. Showing the innards of the thing you are building as you build is healthy because you want friction (aka feedback, insight, influence, information, vibes) to joggle your deeply creative mind. Operating in systems where you fear imperfection are not healthy and robust systems.
Creating environments where people think all ought to be polished before being “unveiled”? Equally dangerous environments.

Let your hair down. Risk openness. Show your progress as you progress. Get comfortable with learning out loud and in the good company of others. Stop performing. Start being imperfect with abandon, insistence, and intention.

Take the risk.