Intentionally Imperfect Execution

Here's what happens when you're growing.

You KNOW what good onboarding looks like.

• A week-long process with task maps

• Check-ins and documentation

• A designated onboarding buddy

• etc etc

So when you're slammed and don't have time for that, you do nothing.

New person shows up, you point them in a general direction…good luck. Then you wonder why they quit in three months or your frustrated with their performance.

Another example:

You KNOW you need to systematize operations.

• Documented processes

• Training videos

• AI fueled knowledge base.

But you don't have two months to build that, so NOTHING gets written down.

You just keep answering the same questions over Slack.

STOP.

Your perfectionism is dressed up as high standards. It's not. It's an excuse to do nothing.

You need two lines for everything important: the CEILING and the FLOOR.

The ceiling is perfect.

It's what you'd do with unlimited time and resources.

For onboarding, that's a full week of training, complete task maps, daily check-ins, recorded walkthroughs. The works.

For systematizing, that's every process documented with video tutorials and a searchable knowledge base.

For hiring an exec assistant, that's someone FULLY integrated saving you 15 hours a week.

That's the ceiling. It's beautiful. You will almost never get there when you're actually growing.

The floor is intentionally imperfect. 

It's what you do no matter what. No excuses, no exceptions.

For onboarding, the floor is three sentences about what success looks like in six months. "Here's what good looks like, here's who to ask when stuck, here's how we measure performance." It feels inadequate. Do it anyway.

For systematizing, the floor is task/purpose/end state in bullets in a Google Doc for your most repeated process. SEND IT.

For an EA, the floor is they save you three hours a week, which breaks even on your time. They won't be fully utilized. Hire them anyway.

Never go below the floor. 

That's the rule.

The floor takes ten minutes. It feels wrong to start something that incomplete. SEND IT ANYWAY.

Example: Taking a week off.

Your ceiling is a fully built leadership team, every system documented, complete test run. That's years away, so you never take time off.

Your floor is one person has your cell number if something's on fire. You block some extra time to fix stuff when you get back.

It's not perfect. Take the break anyway.

Example: Sales process.

Your ceiling is a complete CRM with automated sequences and documented frameworks.

Your floor is a spreadsheet tracking who you talked to and what happened. Five columns. Feels stupidly basic.

Do it anyway.

Example: Customer onboarding.

Your ceiling is automated sequences, scheduled calls, progress tracking.

Your floor is one welcome email: "Here's how to get started, here's how to reach us."

One email. Feels insufficient. Send it to every customer today.

Why this works.

MOMENTUM RULES . Make it exist THEN make it good.

A basic checklist becomes a detailed process later. A simple email becomes a full sequence. A three-sentence description becomes a complete task map.

But if you're waiting for perfect conditions, you'll do nothing forever. Your business will hit a ceiling because nothing's documented, nobody's trained, and you're the bottleneck.

So pick three things that matter most right now.

Write down the ceiling for each one. The perfect version you're aiming for eventually.

Then write down the floor. The absolute minimum. The thing you can do in ten minutes that still maintains some standard. It should feel almost embarrassingly basic.

Then never go below the floor. Even in your busiest week. Even when you're closing a huge deal. Even when it feels insufficient.

The floor is non-negotiable. The ceiling is aspirational.

Hit your floors with intentional imperfect execution and keep growing. Wait for perfect ceilings and stay stuck forever.

Pick bad. Launch the floor. Fix it later.

Yallah Habibi,

Jon

Sagan’s bread and butter is home & commercial services, but we will probably end up moving up market with roles like this…. I can’t believe we filled this role.

This dude is incredible.

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