Momentum, not perfection, seems to be one of the key ingredients for us

Over the last few years, I've been thinking a lot about what actually creates a healthy, high-performing, scalable company.

One where people enjoy working, customers stay happy, and progress compounds over time.

Now I learned what truly matters and which 3 key ingredients (our salt, pepper, and chili) are important for building a great company. Spoiler alert: it’s not what I thought it was 10 years ago. 

As a COO, I've slowly realized that many things I once considered strengths don't necessarily create the best outcome.

Perfectionism was one of them.

I thought perfection was a strength.

I'm a perfectionist by nature. I used to think that was one of my strengths.

For most of my career, I believed excellence meant getting everything right before moving forward. 

• Perfect plans.

• Perfect hires.

• Perfect products.

But I've sat in meetings where ten smart people debated details for weeks while customers were happily using version one. Losing time and resources along the way. 

Our fear of making mistakes often became the biggest mistake itself.

And if I'm honest, I carried that mindset with me.

I thought being a good leader meant having everything under control.

Having all the answers. Preventing every mistake from happening.

Turns out, that's a pretty exhausting way to work.

And frankly, an impossible one even for someone working 14 hours a day. Telling myself I enjoy my work. Recognizable? 

The salt: progress over perfection

Working at WDDW forced me to rethink a lot of those beliefs.

We became obsessed with getting a little bit better every day. Getting things out there even though it wasn’t perfect yet.

As a perfectionist, that idea felt (feels!) highly uncomfortable. Expecting criticism from others.

Sometimes the criticism came, which hurt the ego a bit, but I've seen what this approach can do.

A feature released today teaches us more than a feature polished for another three months.

The more we put out there, the more positive things start to happen. The snowball becomes bigger and bigger. Fast. 

Turned out, progress beats perfection time and time again.

The pepper: Team collaboration over individual skills

I still think about the Galácticos era at Real Madrid.

Zidane. Ronaldo. Figo. Beckham. Roberto Carlos. On pepper (pun intended), they looked unbeatable.

However, putting eleven stars together proved to the world it doesn't automatically create a team.

We assume that if we hire the smartest people, success will somehow happen by itself.

But the magic isn't individual talent. It's chemistry.

People covering each other's weaknesses. Trusting each other. Helping each other improve.

The more I think about it, the more I believe high-performing companies resemble high-performing sports teams.

At WDDW, we don't try to collect superheroes.

We focus on bringing together people who make each other better. And I would say it works out pretty good so far. 

The Chili: Not all customers are good for us, and we are not good for all of them. 

As a business you need clients to survive, but not just any clients. 

Our customers become part of the team too. They visit our office as if it were their own. We collaborate in an informal manner. And we like it this way!

We believe not every company should work with us.

We've learned that our approach only works when there's alignment. Money is nice, but not the key factor for starting a project with us. Alignment is. 

Founders who believe in continuous improvement. The ones who see product development as a journey. Clients who are open for their ideas to be challenged by us.

Over time, we've become more comfortable saying no.

If we don't believe we can genuinely add value, it's always better to be honest and recommend another agency that fits better.

That honesty has probably cost us projects, but I believe it has also earned us trust.

And trust lasts longer.

So, what’s the point of all this?

You might think, okay, what is the point of all this?   

My younger self probably wouldn't agree with much of this. He would tell me to build the perfect process, SOPs, and project plans. Quarterly rocks. Define mission, vision, and manifesto. Control every variable. Sure, they might move the needle forward. 

But fortunately, experience has taught me some great lessons and helped me discover our salt, pepper, and chili. It’s the combination of these key ingredients that makes the dish from bland to tasty. The rest are still important but not the key ingredients. 

What I do know right now is this:

The best results came from good people moving in the same direction, challenged and trusting each other.

Improve things little by little. Just 1% at a time. Don’t go for perfection, but build momentum. 

Don’t focus too much on the paycheck, but focus on adding value and building relationships based on trust and alignment with your team and clients. 

For us, that’s the key for creating a healthy, high-performing company where people enjoy working, customers stay happy, and progress compounds over time.