What to do when experimentation is a dirty word

So, what CAN you do when experimentation is a dirty word?
“Everything is fine” - there are good reasons for not hitting your ambitions so don’t freak out!
Sell your story: Balance your Evidence vs Politics
Manage Change: Find out what is inhibiting change, and focus on overcoming it
Learning: making mistakes is a learning opportunity for everyone

Transcript

1. What to do when experimentation is a dirty word /EllieExperiment @EllieExperiment Ellie Hughes Head of Consulting, Eclipse Scan to connect on Linkedin
2. @EllieExperiment “Only those who dare to fail greatly, can ever achieve greatly” Robert F Kennedy
3. @EllieExperiment
4. @EllieExperiment
5. How is it defined? (Example) Experimentation Culture • Curiosity is nurtured • Data trumps opinion • Anyone can commission a test • All experiments are ethical • Embrace a new model of leadership @EllieExperiment
6. @EllieExperiment
7. @EllieExperiment Why does this feel hard?
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9. Creating a culture of experimentation is hard •Not just overcoming fear •You’ve got to be the visionary •Having a realistic vision for your organisation: - What is the as-is? - What is the to-be? - What is the difference and is that even achievable? @EllieExperiment
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11. @EllieExperiment 'Well, in our country,' said Alice, 'you’d get somewhere else - if you run very fast for a long time.' 'A slow sort of country!' said the Queen. 'In this country, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!' Reason 1: Hello, Alice 👋 🐇
12. The Red Queen Hypothesis Reason 1: Hello, Alice 👋 🐇 @EllieExperiment Everyone else You
13. Reason 2: What’s the frequency? Innovating is not binary, it’s a scale @EllieExperiment Usually, the tech team, product team or innovation team Usually the CRO team/person 1. Continuous improvement 2. Proposition or product evolution 3. New propositions or products 4. New business models 5. New sectors and industries Known problems Unknown problems Incremental optimisation Transformation / disruption Require Require
14. Or is it a curve? Reason 2: What’s the frequency? @EllieExperiment https://www.strategicgeospatial.com/p/innovation-curves
15. Knowledge Management theory Reason 3: Brain power vs speed •The number of ideas produced is inversely proportional to the creative effort for an idea •Calic, Mosakowski, Bontis & Helie (2022) @EllieExperiment Ideas Created Idea Novelty / Creativity Everyone else You
16. @EllieExperiment What are the solutions?
17. Evidence over Politics Solution 1: Sell your story Whether you fit the facts to the story Or the story to the facts: Evidence what isn’t working but in a way that is palatable @EllieExperiment
18. Politics over Evidence Solution 1: Sell your story Ring up your “worst” stakeholder: Ask your objectors what they think you should do. You’ll be surprised at their sometimes thoughtful, at other times, abuse filled responses. @EllieExperiment
19. Focus on change management Solution 2: Manage change People erroneously assume experimentation is all about the subject: It isn’t. What is inhibiting change? Who is inhibiting it? What are their action inhibitors? What are their motivators? https://narrativearts.org/article/public-narrative/ @EllieExperiment
20. F-ing up is more powerful than any training ever produced. Solution 3: 'Screw-up' Let people fail or make mistakes and be their therapist in the aftermath Doing 100s of CRAPPY experiments is still a superior culture than going ZERO good experiments per year @EllieExperiment Ideas Created Idea Novelty / Creativity Everyone else You
21. @EllieExperiment So, what CAN you do when experimentation is a dirty word?
22. @EllieExperiment 1. “Everything is fine” - there are good reasons for not hitting your ambitions so don’t freak out! 2. Sell your story: Balance your Evidence vs Politics 3. Manage Change: Find out what is inhibiting change, and focus on overcoming it 4.Learning: making mistakes is a learning opportunity for everyone
23. @EllieExperiment “Only those who dare to fail greatly, can ever achieve greatly” Robert F Kennedy
24. Thank you for listening Please connect on socials to get a copy of slides and our freebie framework Scan to connect on Linkedin: EllieExperiment Scan to get our Freebie Framework Idea Validation Canvas