Polish is easy, proof is rare
A short story about why I built tools that ask harder questions.
We’ve romanticized momentum.
Ship early. Ship often.
Launch the MVP.
Test in production.
Move fast, fail fast, fix it later.
But here’s the part we skip:
What if the thing we’re testing wasn’t worth building in the first place?
What if it was built on assumptions?
Or preferences?
Or a request no one validated because it came from someone with an important title and a louder voice?
This isn’t about building slower.
It’s about building smarter.
Most of the waste I’ve seen in teams didn’t come from bad developers or lazy product people.
It came from good people executing too quickly on the wrong thing.
And often, by the time someone realizes it’s wrong, it’s already live.
Already burned two sprints.
Already used up the team’s appetite for change.
That’s why I built Proof Sprint.
Not as a framework.
Not as a process to impose.
But as a quiet rebellion.
Just a set of tools to help ask better questions before the roadmap gets locked in.
What are we actually solving for?
Do we know this problem is real?
How do we know users behave this way?
Have we explored enough options or just defaulted to what’s familiar?
What’s been tested, what’s still foggy, and what’s just noise?
Because if those questions don’t get answered early, they’ll get answered later through rework, churn, missed goals, or team burnout.
I don’t think we need more frameworks.
I think we need better habits.
Ones that push back, gently but firmly, when momentum starts outrunning evidence.
Ones that give teams a language for what’s still uncertain.
Ones that surface the truth before it becomes a lesson learned too late.
So before you build:
Pause.
Look at the problem.
Ask for proof.
Surface the tension.
Stress-test the assumptions.
Map what’s known.
Make the risky bet, but make it with your eyes open.
Because polish is easy.
Proof is rare.
And a little friction early can save you from a pointless rebuild later.
Until next time,
Pragati
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For business analysts, product thinkers, and leaders who know: Shipping isn't the hard part. Knowing what's worth building is.