Sense and decide
"From suck to not-suck" / the ugly baby
Assume the first version is bad and improve it
Make it normal to show unfinished work early, on the assumption that first versions are rough and improving them is the job.
Borrowed from Pixar Animation Studios, as described by cofounder Ed Catmull in his book Creativity, Inc. Read the original source.
Ongoing habit · Minutes to start · Anyone on the team can start it
Try this first
Ask people to share while the work is still rough, and say out loud that you expect an ugly early version.
Use it when
People hide drafts until polished and perfectionism is slowing iteration.
Skip it when
Work does eventually need polish, for a client or a final decision. This governs drafting, not the finished product, and it does not lower the final bar.
How to introduce it
Set the expectation that first versions are rough and showing them is welcome. Pixar assumes every early version is bad and treats improving it as the whole job. That removes the pressure to hide work until it is polished, which is precisely when feedback arrives too late to matter.
How to show up
Show your own rough work, and meet other people's early drafts with help rather than judgment. One harsh reaction and everyone goes back to hiding.
How long it takes
No setup. It's a standing norm reinforced by how early work is received.
What makes it hard
Showing imperfect work feels like exposing incompetence, so it takes repeated safety before people will. AI complicates it, because AI can produce a polished-looking draft quickly, which can make rough human thinking feel less acceptable by comparison. Name that.
What it looks like when it's working
People share early, feedback arrives while it can still shape the work, and nobody sits on a draft until the deadline. Work only appearing when polished means the norm is not changing behavior.
How long until it sticks
A few weeks of rough work being met constructively before people trust it's safe.
How you know it stuck
Showing early, imperfect work is ordinary and the team's instinct is to improve it.
The idea behind it
Every first version is rough and pretending otherwise wastes the chance to fix it. Showing unfinished work is how the work gets better.
Where it comes from
Pixar's Braintrust. Normalize showing unfinished, imperfect work. Pixar openly assumes early versions are bad and the job is to improve them.
Why it matters for senior teams
Senior leaders often have the most to gain from showing unfinished work because people are otherwise reluctant to critique them
Also fits: The team doesn't stop to reflect between rounds
Home problem: The people who know something don't say it