Don't Blame Yourself When a Framework Doesn't Fit

As founders, we're constantly looking for better ways to run things. We read articles, listen to podcasts, and hear about successful companies using specific frameworks for everything from setting goals to managing projects or marketing. You might try to implement something like OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) or a specific content strategy, putting in a lot of effort, only to find it doesn't quite work for your business. Then, the advice you often get is, "You didn't do it right."

This can be frustrating. You might start to think you're missing some secret ingredient, or that you're just not smart enough to make these powerful tools work. But what if the problem isn't you, or even the framework itself, but the fit? What if some frameworks simply aren't designed for your specific business, your team, or the unique market you operate in?

Jason Cohen, from A Smart Bear, points out this exact challenge in his essay "You didn't do it right." He argues that this common response — "you didn't do it right" — is often a way to avoid acknowledging that a framework might not be universally applicable. He calls this the "Precision Fallacy": the belief that a framework always works, and any failure is due to imperfect implementation. For founders like you, especially here in Nigeria and across Africa, understanding this idea can save you a lot of wasted time, money, and self-doubt.

Frameworks Are Like Clothes: They Need to Fit You

Think of a business framework like a shirt you buy off the rack. It's designed to fit someone, and it might even fit a lot of people well. That's why it became popular in the first place. But how often does an off-the-rack shirt fit you perfectly? Sometimes it's too tight in the shoulders, too long in the sleeves, or just doesn't sit right.

Jason Cohen uses this analogy to explain that frameworks are the same. They are pre-designed structures for solving common business problems. When they fail, the common, unhelpful retort is "You didn’t do it right." This implies there's a perfect, precise way to implement it, and if you just understood that precision, it would work. But as Cohen points out, "No matter how many times the framework fails, no matter how sincere and capable the team who failed, the answer is always 'You didn’t do it right,' not (for example) 'This isn’t the right process for you' or 'There are many circumstances where it’s the wrong framework to use.'"

The truth is, frameworks work within specific contexts. They are shaped by the culture, resources, and market conditions of the place they originated. If your business's context is different, that off-the-rack framework might be a poor fit. Your goal isn't to perfectly implement a framework; it's to solve a business problem. If a framework helps, great. If not, it's not a failure on your part. It simply means it wasn't the right tool, or it needed significant tailoring.

How to Try on a Framework (And Tailor It)

Instead of trying to force a framework to fit, approach it as an experiment. Here’s how you can "try on" a new idea or framework to see if it works for your business:

1. Understand the Core Principle, Not Just the Steps. Before you dive into the specific rules or jargon, ask yourself: What fundamental problem is this framework trying to solve? For example, with OKRs, the core idea is about setting ambitious, measurable goals and aligning everyone towards them. With a content marketing strategy, the core idea is about attracting and engaging your audience through valuable information. If you understand the underlying goal, you can find your own ways to achieve it even if the prescribed steps don't fit.

2. Start Small and Experiment. Never roll out a new, complex framework across your entire business all at once. That's like buying a dozen shirts of the same style without trying one on. Instead, pick one small area of your business or one team.

Say you run a hypothetical laundry business. If you're thinking of implementing a new project management framework, don't try to apply it to every order, every rider, and every customer service interaction. Pick one specific challenge, like improving the turnaround time for delicate items. Try the framework's approach only for that specific process for a week or two. This limits your risk and gives you quick feedback.

3. Define What Success Looks Like for Your Experiment. Before you start, decide how you'll know if this small experiment is working. Don't just measure if you followed the framework's rules. Measure if it actually moved your business forward in the area you're testing.

For the laundry business example, instead of asking if you held daily stand-ups exactly as Scrum prescribes, ask if the average turnaround time for delicate items decreased by a measurable amount this week, or if your team identified and fixed bottlenecks in the delicate item process.

4. Gather Feedback and Adapt Relentlessly. This is the "tailoring" part. After your small experiment, sit down with the people involved and ask direct questions: What parts of this approach did you find helpful? What parts felt like a waste of time or didn't make sense for how we work? What changes would make this work better for us? Did it actually help us achieve our goal?

Based on this feedback, make adjustments. Change the steps, simplify a process, or even invent a new component if it solves a local problem. For instance, when I built the multi-app platform for BG Laundry, I designed the app to allow photo proof of delivery instead of requiring a customer signature for certain drop-offs. This was because the standard signature flow didn't fit the local reality of customers leaving instructions for unattended deliveries, and photo proof still maintained accountability.

5. Be Ready to Discard (Without Guilt). Sometimes, even after tailoring, a framework just won't fit. The core idea might be incompatible with your business culture, your resources, or your market. That's perfectly fine. You haven't failed; you've learned something valuable about what doesn't work for you, and that learning is far more useful than stubbornly trying to "do it right" with the wrong tool.

When the Fit Is Different Here

The idea of tailoring frameworks is especially critical for founders in Nigeria and across Africa. We operate in unique environments that often don't align with the assumptions built into many frameworks developed in Silicon Valley or other Western markets.

• Resource Constraints: Time, money, and skilled personnel are often much tighter. You can't afford to dedicate a large team or months of effort to a complex framework that might not yield results. This makes starting small, adapting quickly, and being ready to discard even more crucial. A multi-year OKR rollout, for example, is a huge risk when cash flow is king and market conditions can shift rapidly.

• Market Realities and Infrastructure: Market realities and infrastructure present unique challenges. For payment flows, many frameworks assume mature, reliable credit card systems, but here, mobile money, bank transfers, and cash-on-delivery are dominant. Your commerce platform needs to integrate with these, as I did with OPNMRT, which allows sellers to get paid straight to their bank with 0% commission, adapting to local payment preferences and cost sensitivities. Logistics are also complex; unreliable road networks, varying address formats, and inconsistent power supply for charging devices mean that a "perfect" logistics framework from abroad might break down. Any system needs to account for these variables, providing real-time tracking that works even with intermittent connectivity, and adapting communication methods to local norms. Building customer trust online also requires specific strategies; many customers might prefer to pay on delivery, or need more direct communication to feel secure, meaning a content strategy designed for highly trusting online markets might not generate leads here without significant adaptation to build credibility.

• Non-Technical Founders: If you're a non-technical founder, highly technical or process-heavy frameworks can feel overwhelming. The language itself can be a barrier. My advice is to focus even more on the outcome and less on the rigid steps. Simplify, simplify, simplify. What's the absolute simplest way to achieve the spirit of the framework's goal?

• Local Talent Pool: Finding employees with deep experience in niche, complex frameworks might be difficult. You'll likely be teaching and adapting as you go. This means your approach to any framework needs to be flexible enough for your team to learn and grow with it, rather than requiring pre-existing expertise.

The biggest pushback I have against the "you didn't do it right" mentality, especially for founders in our environment, is that sometimes the "right way" is simply too expensive, too slow, or too disconnected from the practical realities of running a business here. Your goal is to keep your business running and growing, not to perfectly implement someone else's playbook.

What I'd Do This Week

Here are three concrete actions you can take this week to apply this idea to your business:

1. Pick one small, nagging problem in your business. Don't try to fix everything at once. Maybe it's inconsistent customer follow-ups, slow inventory reconciliation, or a specific marketing channel that isn't performing.
2. Find one simple, actionable idea or framework related to that problem. Instead of buying a whole book, look for a single blog post, a short video, or a few tactical tips. For example, if it's customer follow-ups, maybe you find a simple template for a follow-up email sequence. If it's inventory, perhaps a quick checklist for daily stock checks.
3. Try that one simple idea for one week with a clear, measurable outcome. Don't commit to it permanently. Just test it.
   • • Send a specific follow-up email to all new leads for a week, and track how many reply.
   • • Implement a short daily physical count of your bestselling items for a week, and compare the physical count to your recorded stock.
   • At the end of the week, ask: Did this help? Was it easy to do? What would make it better?

Approach every new idea with curiosity, not obligation. Your business is unique, and its solutions should be too.

— Samuel