Have you heard of tissue sessions?
I hadn’t until I worked in a corporate marketing team.
And I really wish I’d used them on one consulting project.
Because my client asked me to send an early draft of my thinking.
What. a. disaster.
In marketing, tissue sessions are meetings between a creative agency and their client to share early concepts.
But it's not about drying tears.
The term comes from tracing (tissue) paper – traditionally used for rough sketches.
These sessions are intentionally lo-fi and collaborative. Ideas are shared before they’re polished.
But I didn’t call a tissue session with my consulting client.
Instead, I emailed my progress and assumed they’d understand it was a long way from final.
They didn’t. I lost them.
Three lessons I learned the hard way:
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Even when people say they understand something is a draft, if it’s in document form they’ll judge it by its polish, not its potential. Early thinking belongs on a whiteboard or a sketch, not in a shareable slide deck.
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Be there in person. Context matters, and so does reading the room. Don’t ask a document to do that work for you.
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Normalise tissue sessions across your business – for strategy, projects, and operations – not just creative work. They’re a fast, effective way to align early and share ownership.
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