which she defines as ‘experimental forays into unknown territory with the intent of learning.’ Whilst test & learn is standard practice in domains like science, technology and engineering, many organisations ignore it in their approach to strategy. Jumping straight from planning to implementation at scale. By the time they do review, they have already committed a lot of resource. Making it far less they will abandon an ineffective plan. People, and in particularly leaders, instinctively resist admitting when they don’t know what will work, and thus risk overcommitting resources into untested ideas. Instead, we need to see testing as a key part of the creative process in figuring out what works. Just as comedians try out new material in small clubs. Key features of an effective approach to testing include:
A clear learning outcome, which has potential to be important I.e. a specific hypothesis or assumption.
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Fire bullets before cannonballs
In his book Great by Choice , Jim Collins uses the metaphor of ‘fire bullets before cannonballs’ to highlight the importance of running fast, low cost, low risk tests. In old Navy battles, Cannon Balls were expensive and scarce, and before committing to using them it was wise to first fire cheaper bullets (musket balls) to calibrate for distance and wind. This concept is similar to Amy Edmundson’s recent work on ‘intelligent failure’,
An effective way of measuring success.
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Low cost – both in terms of money and time.
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Low risk – consequences of failure are small, making it safe to push the boundaries.
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The learning is captured
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Adaptive Leadership : Building your capacity to thrive in a disruptive environment
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