Learning-based experimental design reduces risk

No-one is destined to be a me-too player. We can be game changers.

The third in a series of posts about how businesses can own their future.

Here is what we have covered so far.

1. Game Changing Part 1 – Analyzing the Future
2. Game Changing Part 2 – Sensing and Adapting

In this post we use a Ted Talk presentation to showcase how learning-based experimental design reduces risk.

It is also a very compelling story.  Let’s hope our children experience it soon in our schools.

Observations

Some observations from that experience

1. He took his idea and tested it one piece at a time.  What will children do if given a technology was the first test.
2. He did not interact with the experiment.  He left the children alone to discover on their own.  Good designers do the same thing when they observe, without asking questions, how people use products.
3. Learning was his agenda.  When he had expectations (the children would fail the bio-technology) he did not influence the experiment.
4. He formulated his hypothesis as the experiments progressed.  Education is a self organizing system, where learning is an emergent phenomenon.
5. Based on the hypothesis that emerged from the experiments he then built his program/technology.

Good Learning-Based Experimental Design

Based on the above here are five characteristics for good experimental design.

1. Break ideas into small pieces and test independently.
2. Focus on learning as the outcome.
3. Observe but  interact as little as possible to get clean data.
4. Build your hypothesis as it emerges from the learning.
5. Create your working prototype from the emergent hypothesis.

Reduce Risk

In conclusion, good experiment-based design reduces risk.  By building a working prototype based on emergent hypothesis gained from in-field learning, we ensure much greater chance of success.

Questions to consider

1. How well do the people in your company demonstrate these behaviors when they create new offerings?
2. What percentage your new offerings in the last 3 years failed to meet expectations for market share and growth?
3. What was the cost of your failed offerings?
4. Can you afford not to take a learning approach?

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