I am not going to jump on the conspiracy story rumors because that is pure speculation at this point. If that becomes something proven then I will reassess.
The one thing we do know for now is that Schiff was dishonest about his meeting with the whistleblower. However the question is of what significance is that fact? I think it is a safe suspicion that Schiff helped the whistleblower craft the complaint but that doesn't mean the whistleblower's complaint can't be trusted. Would it be improper for a whistleblower to consult a congress person for guidance prior to filing an official whistleblower complaint? Imagine you were a whistleblower with something against a democrat president. You would know the dems would pull out their dogs to try and attack you so wouldn't you consider going to a republican congressman before filing an official complaint? (Note that I am not saying that is what actually happened but considering a plausible and justifiable explanation)
How do you know Schiff knows the identity of everyone he meets prior to the meeting? I don't find it implausible that an attorney arranged a meeting between Schiff and the whistleblower if Schiff thought it was going to give him some dirt he could throw at Trump.
Yes, it is inappropriate to run to the CHAIR OF THE HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE, Adam Schiff and his staff, before (1) working the issue through his chain of command, (2) contacting his legal office, (3) filing an IG complaint, or any other office specifically staffed to field such complaints.
Since you aren't in gov't and are only doing hypotheticals based on your limited knowledge, let me explain it to you:
The government, whether you are a civilian employee, a contractor, military or elected/appointed official, provides a formal complaint system with contacts at all levels of your chain of command/supervisory managers.
If you feel you can't trust your bosses because they are the subject of the complaint, have been informed and done nothing, or you fear retaliation, you can go to any number of people who will record your complaint and assign it to someone to investigate without divulging who lodged the complaint. Even in my company, we've had people file complaints -- current and former employees -- which initiated an investigation that included interviews with managers and coworkers. The person who filed the complaint was never identified during the interviews.
So, by running to Congress, he violated the process EVERYONE IS TRAINED TO KNOW EXISTS. They give annual training to every single gov't employee, so there's no reason for the WB to do what he did.
The telling fact is that Schiff took no action until after the IG complaint was filed and investigated. Only after nothing came of it did Schiff and Pelosi start the impeachment train rolling.
The IG investigation determined the complaint was not sufficient to report to Congressional oversight. The only reason the IG complaint was even filed is because Schiff's office knew that was the proper procedure.
So, Schiff's staff directed the WB to contact the "#coup has begun" lawyer to help draft the complaint.
I'm not a mind reader, but I'll bet a dozen donuts the WB went to Schiff's staff because he knew the complaint didn't rise to the level of an impeachable offense. Their only strategy was to pretend to use the formal IG complaint system in hopes of hiding the WB's identity, and allow Schiff to use it as the impetus for an inquiry-impeachment-removal hail Mary pass.