Why Shipping Imperfect Work Can Build Creative Momentum, According to Matt Gray

In a recent LinkedIn post, Matt Gray discusses why creators should publish work before they feel fully prepared. This article examines Gray’s advice and the reasoning in his post; it is journalistic coverage of his ideas, not an article written by Gray.

“If your first posts feel embarrassing, good. That’s what starting looks like.”

Progress through repetition

Gray’s first point is that early creative work benefits more from consistent output than from exhaustive polishing. He recalls setting a goal to publish across formats, including emails, newsletters, social posts and videos. The underlying argument is that repetition gives creators more chances to learn what resonates than prolonged work on a small number of pieces.

That approach treats publishing as a skill built through practice. According to Gray, creators cannot reliably predict which ideas will connect with an audience while they are still sitting on the work. Publishing creates feedback that revision alone cannot provide.

Replace readiness with a practical threshold

Gray also challenges the expectation that a project must feel finished before it can be shared. He says he published work once it was “80% there,” then used the response to determine what to improve. The threshold offers a concrete alternative to waiting for perfection, which Gray argues may never arrive.

“Now is better than tomorrow. Tomorrow usually never comes.”

In Gray’s view, acting on a workable draft makes it possible to learn from real results. His post does not suggest that every piece should remain rough; rather, it presents publication as one stage in a cycle of making, observing and improving.

Expect discomfort and uncertainty

Gray acknowledges that releasing work can be uncomfortable. He compares the embarrassment, criticism and procrastination that can accompany building an online presence to the soreness that follows exercise. As Gray notes, the discomfort is part of the practice, not necessarily evidence that a creator should stop.

He also cautions against trusting intuition as a perfect measure of an idea’s potential. Gray says some work he considered profound drew little attention, while material he doubted became popular. His point is that audience response cannot be known with certainty in advance, making experimentation part of the process.

Begin before confidence arrives

The post’s closing message is that skill develops after a person starts, rather than serving as a prerequisite for beginning. Gray presents imperfect early work as a foundation that can compound into greater ability over time. That framing may be especially relevant to creators whose standards make it difficult to publish at all.

Overall, Gray’s advice is a case for treating output as practice: publish, learn from the response and refine the next attempt. His post positions embarrassment and uncertainty as ordinary features of starting, while emphasizing that progress depends on continuing to make and share work.