"Perfectionism doesn't improve frameworks. It murders them in their sleep and buries them in a graveyard of good intentions." 

Hey ,

So....

Once upon a time...

There was a consultant who thought he was smarter than his own breakthrough framework.

Plot twist: He wasn't.

And his stupidity cost him $180,000 in exactly 21 days.

The consultant....?

Me.

#sigh

Here's the story of how I snatched defeat from the jaws of victory...

#halleluyah

After creating what I thought was the "holy grail" of intellectual property systems...

I had captured 23 frameworks using my revolutionary ThinkSheet method.

I was feeling pretty smug about my systematic brilliance.

#notetheamazingvocabulary

Anyways...

I made a mistake so epically dumb...

It belongs in the Consultant Hall of Shame right next to the guy who pitched a "synergistic paradigm shift" to a room full of engineers.

#donotask

So...

Like a regular bonehead...

I decided to "improve" my first framework before testing it with clients.

Nothing wrong with that right?

#waitforit

The framework was called "The Resistance Mapping Protocol"....

It was a system born from a brutal consulting engagement where a digital transformation kept hitting invisible walls....

Even thought they had money and the owner was in full support...

The original breakthrough was elegantly simple:

3 questions that revealed hidden resistance patterns in 20 minutes.

But instead of deploying it immediately like any rational human being would do...

I got infected with the deadliest disease known to consultants..

Perfectionism.

#shuddersinhorror

I spent three weeks "improving" it.

Added academic research.

Fancy citations.

Sophisticated visual diagrams.

A 47 slide presentation deck that looked like it was designed by committee at Harvard Business School.

It.

Was.

Buriful.

But...

By the time I finished my "improvements," ...

My simple 3 step process had turned into a 127 page Frankenstein monster that required certification training just to understand.

#sigh

When I finally presented it to a CEO....

He took one look at my elaborate masterpiece and said:

"Victor this is amazing and comprehensive. Do you have something simpler we could start with?"

KAI!!!!!

Without knowing it....

I had committed intellectual property suicide.

The original framework was brilliant precisely because it was simple.

But my "improvement" process had buried that brilliance under layers of academic bovine excrement.

#pausingfordramaticeffect

Here's what my little perfectionism party cost me:

60+ hours of development time at $200/hour = $12,000 in direct costs

4 clients who needed this solution while I was busy playing academic = $80,000 in lost revenue

Licensing opportunities that vanished while I perfected my masterpiece = $60,000

Reduced effectiveness when finally deployed due to complexity bloat = $28,000

Total damage: $180,000

Gone forever and never to return!

But the money wasn't even the worst part.

Those 4 clients continued struggling with resistance patterns I could have helped them resolve in 90 minutes...

If I'd just deployed the original simple framework instead of trying to turn it into the Sistine Chapel of consulting methodologies.

#sigh

Here's what I learned...

Simple works. Complex doesn't.

If your framework requires more than 3 steps or 15 minutes to explain...

It's not a framework...

It's a methodology with an identity crisis!

.

Deployment beats development.

A rough framework deployed with 5 clients generates more value than a perfect framework collecting digital dust.

Real world application teaches you more about your own methodology than any amount of theoretical mental masturbation.

Iteration through implementation.

Frameworks improve through use not through thinking.

Read that again...

Each client application reveals refinements you never considered.

The best frameworks are forged in the fire of real problems...

Not polished in the ivory tower of perfectionist analysis.

So...

After this disaster...

I implemented what I call "The 48-Hour Rule":

Every framework must be deployed with a real client within 48 hours of capture.

No exceptions.

No improvements.

No preparation beyond basic documentation.

This constraint forces you to ship before perfectionism can strangle your momentum.

The results were immediate:

Instead of developing 1 perfect framework per month...

I started deploying 8 to12 rough frameworks monthly.

Client results improved because I was solving real problems with simple solutions instead of impressing people with complex methodologies nobody could use.

The frameworks that survived real world deployment became incredibly robust through iteration.

The ones that didn't work got abandoned quickly before I could waste significant time on them.

Today, the Resistance Mapping Protocol is...

• 3 questions
• 12 minutes to complete
• Immediate action priorities
• Used by 63+ organizations
• Licensed to a consulting firm

My favorite success story for the adoption of The Resistance Mapping Protocol is Stova BV Limited...

Manufacturers of the incredibly successful Swiss Flower brand of airfreshners.

All because I finally stopped trying to perfect it and started letting clients improve it through application.

Your perfectionism is costing you more than you think.

Every day you spend "improving" a framework is another day it's not generating client results...

Building proof points...

Or creating revenue opportunities.

Here's what you must do:

Take whatever framework you've been "working on" and deploy it with a real client within 48 hours.

Don't improve it.

Don't refine it.

Don't add complexity.

Just use it exactly as captured and document what happens.

Because the gap between intellectual property development and deployment is where most consulting fortunes go to die.

This is The Certain Way.

All you have to do is...

Get out of your own way.

CTM

PS: I still have that original 127 page methodology sitting in my files like a monument to stupidity. It's beautiful, comprehensive, and completely useless, which makes it the perfect reminder of the difference between impressive work and profitable work.

PPS: I have 3 spots open for a Deliberate Design Intensive with me in September. It's private and just me and you. The investment? $5000 for individuals and $15,000 for organizational teams. It's one day. We get together and I install and IP development process for you.

Hit reply and send Deliebrate Design and I'll send you details.