The Power of Experimenting

To innovate is key in a transformation. Do you have the right balance between planning and rapid experimenting? For example, as most know, at Google, when there is a decision to be made whether ads should have a blue or yellow background, this is not resolved by debate but by running an experiment. It became clear throughout Google that many debates and decisions were unnecessary. It’s an experiment-focused mindset.

Michael Luca and Max H. Bazerman, in a recent MIT Sloan Management Review, suggested the following practices:

1. Embed experiments in the decision-making processes. Create a ‘testing’ sensibility and more inclination to check assumptions as leaders.
2. Explore why experiments work or not. Be clear about which questions to test and which not. A series of experiments is often better than drawing conclusions from a single experiment.
3. Test for broad-based and long-term outcomes. Measuring effects over several months or more can create more powerful insights.
4. Aim for transparency. Acknowledge as an organization that you are using experiments to better your services.

I have found quick tests versus long debates to often be a great way to get off the debate roundabout. What are the ways you are using experimentation?