When you don鈥檛 show your work, you鈥檙e missing a big opportunity to engage your audience. The effort that goes into what you do鈥攚hatever you do鈥攈as value. It鈥檚 what connects people to your mission long after you鈥檝e solved whatever little process peccadillo they had.

Are you making it look so easy that they鈥檙e not really getting the back-breaking, mind-bending, jaw-dropping effort you鈥檙e putting into being the best? There鈥檚 no room for being coy鈥攏o one thinks you鈥檝e got magical woodland creatures doing the work for you. It鈥檚 not about #humblebrags, it鈥檚 about being proud of the effort you put into delivering a quality product. This is聽the devil in the details鈥攖he painstaking UX, the extra mile, the on-demand customer service.

The value lies in the聽incremental hows and聽whys, not in the big finish. The work shows that you understand the problem. It shows that you understand the audience, that you鈥檙e committed to the vision and you don鈥檛 miss the chance to deliver.

Stop making it look easy. Show your聽work.

Two things can happen when you don鈥檛 show your work:

No one notices. Or they stop noticing. Every contribution, every iteration and every break-through is worthy of at least a nod towards the work. Even when the聽version is flawed or the bug isn鈥檛 completely fixed, there is something of value to talk about. Right? I mean, if there isn鈥檛 then why are you wasting everybody鈥檚 time? The whole point of being agile is the work-in-progress part鈥攖he emphasis on evolution. Progress, not perfection.聽

Or.

You become complacent and someone comes gunning for you. Success can be insulating. The small things lose ground to the big wins; the sum becomes more important than its parts. Never assume your customers so devoted that they鈥檙e immune to the wiles of the competition. When you stop showing the work, one has to wonder, are you still doing it?聽You owe your customers the respect of continual hustle and appreciation.

You鈥檙e missing an opportunity to stand out.

You know what happens when you show your work? Your customers go all in and that community begins to build something, too. When people get excited about your product, they will tell other people. Buyers listen to the opinions and recommendations of their peers.聽They often bear the burden of choosing a solution that will impact the productivity of colleagues. They want to look good. They want to make the right decision. When you show your work, you give them confidence.

鈥淵ou鈥檝e got something that your competition doesn鈥檛 have, but the problem is, unless you show your work, unless you prove it, it鈥檚 invisible.鈥� 鈥撀�

Smart competitive intelligence offers you a lens on your rivals, so if you鈥檙e doing it right, you know where your hard work is paying off.聽That鈥檚 where win-loss interviews, crowd-sourced intel and an integrated CI process can highlight areas of advantage that you may be missing. That鈥檚 showing your work, too鈥攌nowing what your competition is doing and saying reflects a dedication to doing better.

You are what you do. You are what you deliver, what you share and what you build. You are how you do it, when you do it and why you do it. Show your work.