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This issue: Your story doesn’t have to be finished before it’s worth telling. Waiting until every detail is perfect may mean missing some of your best opportunities to build interest, relationships, and momentum along the way.
The lead
The Current | November 2026 — Kwedar & Co.
Don’t wait for a perfect ending to tell a worthwhile story.
You know that old saying about not letting perfect be the enemy of good? I think it applies to business communications more often than most leaders realize.
Imagine your company is working on something genuinely exciting. Maybe it’s a new product, a better way to solve a stubborn industry problem, or an idea your team has been quietly developing for years. You know there’s a great story there, and you can already picture how you’ll share it when the time comes.
But… just not quite yet.
There are still details to finalize, decisions to make, and questions you can’t confidently answer. You want to be absolutely certain the thing you’re talking about will actually become the thing you’re promising, so you decide to wait until everything is buttoned up before inviting anyone into the conversation.
And listen, I get it. There are few things more uncomfortable than making a public commitment and then having to explain why something changed. Being thoughtful about what you share is good leadership. But I wonder how many worthwhile stories never get told because the people closest to them are waiting for a version that feels completely finished.
What if the process, the people, the problem you’re trying to solve, and everything you’re learning along the way are every bit as interesting as the final result?
You don’t have to know how a story ends to give people a reason to care about it.
What we’re seeing
A lot of business leaders treat communications like the final item on a project checklist. First, develop the product. Test it, refine it, work through the inevitable surprises, and make sure everyone agrees on the details. Once the work is complete, someone finally calls marketing or PR.
Sometimes that’s exactly the right sequence. There are legitimate reasons to keep information confidential, and nobody’s suggesting you publish your trade secrets or hand competitors a step-by-step guide to your next big idea. But guess what? You wouldn’t do that after launch, either.
Protecting proprietary information and telling a compelling story aren’t mutually exclusive. There’s a whole lot of territory between revealing everything and saying nothing at all, and that’s where some of the most interesting communications opportunities live.
You can talk about the challenges your industry is facing without revealing your solution. You can introduce the people doing the work without disclosing what they’re developing. You can share what you’re learning, what you’re noticing, and what you believe needs to change, giving people a window into your expertise without opening the door to information that needs to stay inside the business.
And when you do, the story begins to develop a life beyond your own walls.
Customers start asking questions. Prospective partners recognize opportunities to collaborate. Reporters become familiar with your company’s expertise, and your employees get to see their work recognized before the finished product is ready to share.
Just as importantly, those conversations can make the work itself better. You discover what customers are curious about, which challenges resonate most deeply, and what people outside your organization find remarkable about something your team may have started taking for granted.
That’s one of the beautiful things about telling a story as it unfolds: you’re not simply broadcasting information to an audience. You’re giving people an opportunity to become invested in what happens next.
You can protect what makes your business competitive while sharing what makes it interesting. And the earlier you start those conversations, the more opportunities you create.
The cautionary tale
Let’s imagine a company called Northstar Components.
For several years, Northstar’s engineers have been working on a product that could fundamentally improve how customers approach a longstanding industry challenge. It’s the kind of project that has required extraordinary patience, plenty of trial and error, and more than a few moments when the team wondered whether it would ever get across the finish line.
Leadership believes the product could open an entirely new market and revenue stream, and everyone agrees it deserves a major launch. They want to give the announcement its due, which means waiting until the testing is complete, the specifications are final, and the sales team has everything it needs.
Meanwhile, another company begins speaking publicly about the very challenge Northstar is working to solve.
The competitor’s leaders contribute perspectives to trade publications, participate in industry conversations, and talk openly about the changes they believe customers will need to make in the years ahead. They’re not announcing a competing product or revealing some extraordinary breakthrough; they’re simply making their expertise visible.
Little by little, the industry begins to associate the competitor with the issue. Reporters know whom to call when the topic comes up. Customers recognize its leaders’ names, and potential partners begin reaching out because they’ve heard enough to be curious.
Northstar, meanwhile, is still waiting for its big moment.
When their product finally launches, it’s excellent! The engineering is sound, the customer benefits are real, and the team has every reason to be proud of what it accomplished. But while Northstar was focused on perfecting the product, someone else was building an audience around the problem it solves.
Imagine how different that launch might have felt if Northstar had spent the previous year introducing its engineers, sharing perspectives on customer challenges, and helping the industry understand why this particular problem deserved attention.
The announcement wouldn’t have been the first time people heard the company’s name in connection with the issue they were solving. It would have been a welcome development in a story they’d already been following.
And instead of asking the market to pay attention all at once, Northstar could have spent months giving people reasons to care.
One thing worth your time
Think about something important your company is working on right now that won’t be finished for another six months or a year. Something your team talks about constantly behind closed doors, but the outside world knows almost nothing about it.
At your next leadership meeting, ask: What part of this story could we responsibly start telling today?
Maybe it’s the problem you’re trying to solve, the expertise of the people working on it, or a shift in your industry that customers ought to be thinking about. Perhaps it’s a question your team has been wrestling with that other leaders would find fascinating.
You don’t have to share everything, make promises about outcomes you can’t guarantee, or disclose information that belongs inside your business. And if there are sound reasons to keep something quiet, by all means, respect them.
But don’t confuse a story that’s still unfolding with a story that isn’t ready to be told.
When you invite people into the conversation early, you give them a chance to become curious, ask questions, and develop a connection to the work. By the time you’re ready for the big announcement, you will likely find that you’ve already built an audience that’s eager to hear it.
Don’t wait until you’re done to build momentum. Bring people along for the ride.
About The Author
Lauren Kwedar Cockerell is founder and president of Kwedar & Co, a Fort Worth-based PR, messaging, and strategic communications firm serving purpose-driven B2B companies. She is also the firm’s lead PR and marketing strategist, host of our podcast The Impatient Entrepreneur, as well as a frequent podcast guest.
Over the past 20+ years, she has worked with 100s of leaders and organizations to create PR and marketing strategies and tactics that support visions and reach goals.
To connect with Lauren, please send an email above, or book a consultation.