Product
Perfectly imperfect: How wabi-sabi fuels team velocity
Many people know I love hacks.
There’s something energizing about tinkering with engineers, taking a half-baked idea, and bringing it to life — fast.
One of my most memorable moments was during a vacation in Vietnam with my husband, when a few coworkers decided to crash our trip. One evening, we hacked together a feature we knew our customers wanted.
We didn’t overthink it.
We didn’t over-polish it.
We didn’t perfect it.
But it worked.
Mini hack in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam with Kevin Coleman & Trevor Weng
When we came back and shared it with our CEO, he loved it. A few weeks later, it was live in our product — and customers were giving us immediate feedback.
That moment stuck with me:
Progress beats polish.
Vulnerability beats perfection.
Because that’s how we learn faster.
That’s the essence of velocity.
Why velocity matters
Early-stage companies live or die on velocity. It’s how we find product-market fit before someone else does.
But velocity isn’t chaos. It’s not just “move fast and break things.”
True velocity is momentum, aligned direction, and continuous progress. It’s learning quickly and iterating quickly.
What slows teams down
After fifteen years in early-stage companies, I’ve seen the patterns that kill momentum:
Paralyzing over endless planning. Perfecting the plan instead of executing it. The longer we wait, the harder it is to start.
Obsessing over perfectionism. Work held back in the name of polish. Progress delayed is learning delayed.
Fear of failure. Playing safe. Avoiding experiments. No risks means no breakthroughs.
Over-attachment. When people cling to ideas — and to their work — pivots feel impossible. Flexibility dies.
The hidden ingredient: vulnerability
Velocity demands vulnerability.
Vulnerability to ambiguity. To risk. To putting out work that isn’t “done.” To feedback that stings. To failure that teaches.
That clicked for me while reading Beth Kempton’s Wabi Sabi. This Japanese philosophy finds beauty in imperfection, impermanence, and simplicity.
Wabi-sabi isn’t just a lens for finding peace and contentment in life.
It’s a blueprint for teams that want to move faster.
Wabi-sabi principles for teams
1. Let go of perfectionism
Wabi-sabi honors imperfection. For teams, that means progress over polish.
Share early drafts. Normalize iteration. Treat “done for now” as a win.
2. Share work early and often
Momentum builds in the open. Sharing unfinished work sparks feedback before wasted effort piles up.
Demo rough ideas. Involve partners earlier. Co-build — don’t wait for it to be “ready and done.”
3. Use feedback as fuel
Feedback is oxygen. Without it, teams suffocate in their own assumptions.
Ask for it often. Offer it freely. Don’t take it personally — use it to move faster.
Feedback is a gift.
4. Reframe failure
Don’t take failure personally.
Failure isn’t defeat — it’s data. Every stumble is insight for the next stride.
Run learning-focused retros. Treat launches as experiments, not verdicts.
Embracing wabi-sabi at work
Velocity isn’t about reckless speed.
It’s about vulnerability in motion: letting go of perfect, inviting feedback, reframing failure, and flowing forward.
So here’s a challenge:
Share something earlier — sketches, flows, prototypes.
Give someone thoughtful, timely, and specific feedback.
Aristotle once said: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
Excellence doesn’t come from perfection.
It comes from progress, repeated over and over.