The Law of Experimentation

How is your agile mindset doing? Shall we recap? First, we said that, in a world where change is the only constant, we need an agile mindset to adapt (not to go faster). This agile mindset demands certain laws to be accomplished:

• The law of the client: telling that the client must be placed at the center. Our objective is to enchant him, to give him early and continuous value.
• The law of the small team: telling that we need small teams (3 to 12 people) to satisfy our client, that teams must be inter disciplinary, they must work independently and with autonomy in short cycles, so that they are constantly learning.
• The law of the network: telling that the organization must be a huge network throgh which collaboration and information flow freely. Good ideas can arise everywhere; communication among teams must be open and clear.

So, if we accomplish these... are we fit to adapt to changes? There is something missing on my point of view: something essential, cross functional to the previous laws: the law of experimentation. There is no other way to adapt to changes, we need to experience. That’s why I will share today the fourth law for an agile mindset: and it is mine! (The others belong to Steve Denning). In our Latin world, this law must not be kept between the lines: it must be said aloud. Here we go.

Maybe experimentation as a concept seems strange to you, but surely the word innovation is very familiar. Nowadays all the companies are plagued with innovation speeches. But the problem is...it is easier said than done. Companies do want to be innovative (or at least they say so), but there is still a vital concept to be integrated: failure.

So, before we start, please take a moment and revise your beliefs regarding failure: What did you listen to during your life? What do you say? How do you experience it?

Failure is frowned upon in our Latin culture. In fact, every time I tackle the subject during one of my workshops, somebody in the room retorts uncomfortably: “Can’t we use a different word?” Faced to that reaction I tell them that, in the Anglo Saxon world, failure has a different connotation and that even intelligent failure exists. Every innovative culture is accompanied by failure: and intelligent failure is worth praising. In fact, if we only talk about innovation but we are not open to failure...we are only playing the game of innovation. We are pretending.

But, why? Let’s go back.

Innovation demands a scientific behavior. What does this mean? The scientific designs experiments in a strict way. He prepares hypothesis and adventures himself, aware that there is only one thing he cannot negotiate with: experimentation and convincing conclusions. The issue is not whether to validate his hypothesis or not. In fact you may know some PHD applicants who were graded with an A mark even though their hypotheses were argued. Mind you: to experience as a scientific has nothing to do with “oops, I’m sorry” (or screwing it up). It has to do with learning.

Today, learning is more relevant than ever, and the failure embedded in experimentation is a healthy symptom: it means that somebody is brave enough to leave his comfort zone. What do you think about this? Perhaps many of you are thinking about how ridiculous this sounds. That I have no idea and I am writing nonsense. But, be my guest...

I have a three year old kid. He is like a little sponge, he keeps on learning. And, in order to learn, he must hit his head against the wall many times. He must try over and over. He must insist, time after time. This is so natural while we are children! But, we lose this capacity as we grow up. And so do companies. Companies reflect upon two terrible illusions: the belief that learning can be maximized without experimentation, and the myth that it is possible to be innovative without failing. Organizations still put there faith on training courses (mainly content delivery), even though it has been proved that attending them is not a guarantee for learning, or for landing (or application).  

And here I come to ask you: Are your learnings more fruitful when you succeed or when you fail? People say, during my workshops, that the experience is richer when they fail. However, every time I ask them about how often they share their failure...they just shake their shoulders and, with an empty look, they utter: NEVER! Not “every now and then”. Just “never”.  

This is the challenge that every organization faces today: an agile organization is not the one that sends the employees to (lack of) information courses, but that who believes in the creation of safe spaces for creativity, innovation, failure and learning.

An agile organization is the company that fails quicky (and cheap) only to learn even faster and cheaper. There is no adaptation to changes without learning.  

Give me some minutes for a final remark: Does this mean that it is all about innovation? Absolutely not! In fact there is a fashionable concept nowadays: the “ambidextrous organization”: the company that explores new business models and, at the same time, exploits the existing ones - including the stabilization of new discoveries. Innovation (and exploration) is as important as management (and exploitation).

So I will be closing with a little secret: every time I think about this law I have some doubts about its name. Shall I call it the law of experimentation or the law of learning?

I do not have a clear answer for this, but no matter its name, this is my contribution to the agile mindset in the Latin world. I invite you to experiment, to fail and to learn. And to do it with others. Experiencing, failing and learning together is the revolution.

English transcreation by Verónica Tolosa